Cardiac medical device company Kips Bay Medical (NASDAQ:KIPS), based in Minnesota, has promoted chief financial officer Scott Kellen to chief operating officer. Kellen still retains his CFO title and responsibilities.
Kellen joined Kips Bay Medical in February 2010, before which he was the CFO at Transoma Medical.
“Scott has been an instrumental part of our senior management team as we navigated through our initial public offering, our various regulatory challenges and addressing to the requirements of being a public company,” said Manny Villafana, Kips Bay Medical in a news release . “This appointment recognizes all the contributions Scott has made and will continue to make to the company and our stockholders, partners and customers.”
The announcement, made Wednesday, comes less than a week after Kips Bay reported disappointing fourth-quarter results. The company reported that a tough reimbursement environment led hospitals to cut back on the usage of the eSVS Mesh device.
The device is used to support leg veins grafted to the heart during coronary artery bypass surgery. Kips Bay Medical, which went public in February last year, has been working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sort out regulatory delays. The FDA has requested additional information before it can grant the IDE or investigational device exemption Kips Bay needs to conduct a pivotal trial.
