Simon brings us proven leadership and success and an in-depth understanding of how to translate biomaterial technologies into innovative products. He is a terrific fit for Akeso.
Waltham, MA (PRWEB) April 29, 2014
Akeso Biomedical, Inc., a privately held medical device company developing innovative wound healing products for the treatment of chronic skin ulcers, announced that it has appointed Simon F. Williams, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Williams, a former CEO of a tissue engineering company and co-founder of a bioscience company, has a solid track record of developing medical device products from new biomaterial technologies, and forging partnerships for product commercialization.
Prior to Akeso Biomedical, Dr. Williams was the President of Tepha, Inc., where he formulated a product development strategy for a new absorbable biomaterials technology that led to FDA regulatory clearance of 17 novel medical device products over five years. Products developed by Tepha included CR Bard’s Phasix™ hernia repair mesh, B. Braun Surgical’s MonoMax® absorbable sutures, Tornier’s Phantom Fiber™ for ligament and tendon repair, and Galatea’s GalaFLEX® mesh for plastic and reconstructive surgery. Before Tepha, Dr. Williams was a cofounder and Vice President of Metabolix, a bioscience company that develops sustainable solutions for the plastics and chemical industries. Dr. Williams completed a Ph.D. in organic chemistry at Cambridge University, England, a NATO postdoctoral fellowship at M.I.T, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.
“We are very pleased that Simon will lead Akeso’s team, and that he will spearhead the development of the company’s proprietary biomaterial technology to produce products for the treatment of chronic wounds” said Bernie Prusaczyk, Chairman of the Board. “Simon brings us proven leadership and success and an in-depth understanding of how to translate biomaterial technologies into innovative products. He is a terrific fit for Akeso.”
“I am very excited to lead Akeso as we develop products for patients with hard to heal chronic wounds, such as leg ulcers and diabetic ulcers, and seek new therapies to address a significant and critical, unmet need in healthcare,” said Dr. Williams. “I look forward to realizing the full potential of the company’s proprietary biomaterial technology.”
About Akeso Biomedical, Inc.
Akeso Biomedical, Inc. is an early stage medical device company focused on the treatment of hard to heal skin ulcers. These ulcers afflict several million Americans each year, and often remain unhealed after six months of treatment. The company is developing products to treat these wounds using a new, silk biomaterial technology exclusively licensed from Tufts University. The silk implants are expected to provide scaffolds for tissue in-growth, and will be designed to encourage vascularization, and control bioburden, destructive enzymes, and moisture levels. The new silk technology provides improvements in processing, allows the rate of degradation of the silk implant to be fine-tuned to the specific clinical need, as well as delivery of active agents from the implant to the wound. For more information please send inquiries to contact(at)akesobiomedical(dot)com.
Akeso Biomedical, Inc. is a VIC Technology Venture Development™ portfolio company.
