AxoGen, Inc. Announces Appointment of Karen Zaderej as Chairman of the Board

ALACHUA, Fla., May 21, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AxoGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AXGN), a global leader in developing and marketing innovative surgical solutions for peripheral nerves, today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Karen Zaderej as Chairman of the Board in addition to her current role as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately. Zaderej succeeds Jamie M. Grooms, who will remain a Director of the Board.

“As the founder of AxoGen, it has been a tremendous privilege to initiate and develop truly revolutionary products that improve quality of life for patients with peripheral nerve damage,” stated Jamie Grooms. “Karen’s twelve years with AxoGen have been marked with tremendous success.  She has built an organization with a clear mission and a culture of high-performance teamwork.  The Board and I are extremely pleased with the company’s success and I am proud to pass the baton to Karen as she leads the team to continue to execute on her vision.”    

In her role as Chairman of the Board, Zaderej will lead efforts in developing and implementing the Company's strategic vision.  AxoGen is creating a platform for nerve repair with innovative solutions and expanding applications to improve the quality of life for patients with peripheral nerve damage.     

“I am deeply honored to be named Chairman of AxoGen,” said Zaderej. “We are building a culture that attracts, inspires, motivates, and develops individuals and teams to achieve excellence by embracing our values. We are just getting started, and we have a tremendous opportunity to improve the quality of life and offer hope for patients with debilitating nerve damage.”

“We are indebted to Jamie Grooms for his founding vision and exemplary service as Chairman, added Zaderej. “He continues to be a valuable resource and an insightful advisor, and we are pleased that AxoGen will continue to benefit from his active involvement on our Board of Directors.”

Further, the AxoGen Board of Directors also elected Amy Wendell to the newly created role of Lead Director. The Lead Director facilitates the functioning of the Board of Directors independently of management of the Company and provides independent leadership to the Board of Directors.

About AxoGen
AxoGen (AXGN) is the leading company focused specifically on the science, development and commercialization of technologies for peripheral nerve regeneration and repair. We are passionate about helping to restore peripheral nerve function and quality of life to patients with physical damage or discontinuity to peripheral nerves by providing innovative, clinically proven and economically effective repair solutions for surgeons and health care providers. Peripheral nerves provide the pathways for both motor and sensory signals throughout the body. Every day, people suffer traumatic injuries or undergo surgical procedures that impact the function of their peripheral nerves. Physical damage to a peripheral nerve, or the inability to properly reconnect peripheral nerves, can result in the loss of muscle or organ function, the loss of sensory feeling, or the initiation of pain.

AxoGen's platform for peripheral nerve repair features a comprehensive portfolio of products, including Avance® Nerve Graft, an off-the-shelf processed human nerve allograft for bridging severed peripheral 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 peripheral nerves, AxoGuard® Nerve Protector, a porcine submucosa ECM product used to wrap and protect damaged peripheral nerves and reinforce the nerve reconstruction while preventing soft tissue attachments, and Avive® Soft Tissue Membrane, a minimally processed human umbilical cord membrane that may be used as a resorbable soft tissue covering to separate tissue layers and modulate inflammation in the surgical bed. Along with these core surgical products, AxoGen also offers AcroVal® Neurosensory & Motor Testing System and AxoTouch® Two-Point Discriminator. These evaluation and measurement tools assist health care professionals in detecting changes in sensation, assessing return of sensory, grip, and pinch function, evaluating effective treatment interventions, and providing feedback to patients on peripheral nerve function. The AxoGen portfolio of products is available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other European and international countries.

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,” and 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 assessment on our internal control over financial reporting, our growth, our 2018 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.

Contacts:
AxoGen, Inc.
Peter J. Mariani, Chief Financial Officer
InvestorRelations@AxoGenInc.com

The Trout Group – Investor Relations                                             
Brian Korb
646.378.2923
bkorb@troutgroup.com

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Source: AxoGen, Inc.