AxoGen Appoints Peter J. Mariani Chief Financial Officer
Greg Freitag to Continue as General Counsel and Senior VP of Business Development
ALACHUA, FL – March 1, 2016 – AxoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXGN), a leader in developing and marketing innovative surgical solutions for peripheral nerve injuries, today announced the appointment of Peter J. Mariani, as Chief Financial Officer, effective March 1, 2016. Mr. Mariani will report directly to Karen Zaderej, President and Chief Executive Officer. Greg Freitag, who has been the interim CFO since August 2015, will continue as General Counsel, Senior VP of Business Development and a member of the Board of Directors.
“Pete’s financial expertise and his broad commercial, international and operational background is a great addition to the AxoGen management team,” commented Karen Zaderej, President and Chief Executive Officer. “I am looking forward to working with him as we continue to execute on our growth strategies. I also want to thank Greg Freitag for stepping in to fill the CFO role and I am pleased he can again focus solely on our business development efforts and manage our legal requirements.”
With extensive financial, international and operational experience in the healthcare sector, Mr. Mariani will be responsible for AxoGen's global finance and administrative functions. Prior to joining AxoGen, Mr. Mariani was the Chief Financial Officer of Lensar, Inc., a privately-held global leader in next generation femtosecond laser technology for refractive cataract surgery. Prior to Lensar he served as Chief Financial Officer at Hansen Medical, Inc., a publicly-traded company that designs and manufactures medical robotics for positioning and control of catheter-based technologies. Mr. Mariani was also with Guidant Corporation, a global leader in the development and sale of medical devices for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. During his 12 years at Guidant, he held senior financial positions of increasing importance, including Vice President of Finance and Administration, Guidant Japan, and the corporate Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer. Following the sale of Guidant to Boston Scientific in 2006, Mr. Mariani co-led the global integration of the companies. He started his career at Ernst and Young, LLP, where he served a diverse client base as a Certified Public Accountant.
“I am pleased to join the AxoGen team at this important time. AxoGen’s performance over the past few years has been impressive. I am looking forward to working with Karen and the rest of the team as we continue to advance the growth strategies of these important nerve repair solutions,” commented Mr. Mariani.
About AxoGen, Inc.
AxoGen (NASDAQ: AXGN) is a leading medical technology company dedicated to peripheral nerve repair. AxoGen’s portfolio of regenerative medicine products is available in the United States, Canada and several other countries and includes Avance® Nerve Graft, an off-the-shelf processed human nerve allograft for bridging severed nerves without the comorbidities associated with a second surgical site, AxoGuard® Nerve Connector, a porcine submucosa extracellular matrix (“ECM”) coaptation aid for tensionless repair of severed nerves, and AxoGuard® Nerve Protector, a porcine submucosa ECM product used to wrap and protect injured peripheral nerves and reinforce the nerve reconstruction while preventing soft tissue attachments.
Cautionary Statements Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This Press Release contains "forward-looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations or predictions of future conditions, events or results based on various assumptions and management's estimates of trends and economic factors in the markets in which we are active, as well as our business plans. Words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "projects", "forecasts", "continue", "may", "should", "will" variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements may include, without limitation, statements regarding our growth, our 2016 guidance, product development, product potential, financial performance, sales growth, product adoption, market awareness of our products, data validation, our visibility at and sponsorship of conferences and educational events. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. Forward-looking statements in this release should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect AxoGen's business and its market, particularly those discussed in the risk factors and cautionary statements in AxoGen's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. The forward-looking statements are representative only as of the date they are made, and, except as required by law, AxoGen assumes no responsibility to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Source: AxoGen, Inc.
Contact:
AxoGen, Inc.
Gregory Freitag, General Counsel and SVP Business Development
386.462.6856
InvestorRelations@AxoGenInc.com
EVC Group
Michael Polyviou/Doug Sherk – Investor Relations
212.850.6020
mpolyviou@evcgroup.com; dsherk@evcgroup.com
Released March 1, 2016