SonaCare Medical Board of Directors Appoints Dr. Mark Carol as CEO and President
Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) October 24, 2014 -- SonaCare Medical, LLC, leader in minimally invasive high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) technology, announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Dr. Mark Carol, M.D. as Chief Executive Officer, President and member of the Board effective immediately. In his new role Dr. Carol will take-on expanded responsibilities within the company, including further developing the company’s HIFU technology, as well as overseeing commercialization, manufacturing and finance.
Dr. Carol joined SonaCare Medical in 2011 as Chief Development Officer, successfully creating transformative technology in support of a new surgical platform he coined “SonaSurgery”. As part of the SonaSurgery vision, Carol has presided over a number of new products and technological enhancements at SonaCare, including:
• Launch of FDA 510(k) cleared Sonatherm® 11mm laparoscopic HIFU probe, first in the U.S. and pending in Europe.
• Development of multi-modal Sonasource console, which can operate both the company’s prostate and laparoscopic probes as well as future HIFU probes.
• Integration of magnetic resonance and ultrasound image fusion for prostate ablation planning with Sonablate® 500.
In addition to his technical contributions, Dr. Carol has led the company’s clinical study program and has actively been actively collaborating with the Food and Drug Administration to bring SonaCare’s prostate HIFU device Sonablate® 450 to the U.S. market, an effort that will continue under his leadership.
“As the company continues to expand its technology offering for SonaSurgery, the Board believes this is an ideal time for Mark to take over leadership of the company” said Stephen Puckett, Sr., Founder and SonaCare Board member. “Beyond being a true strategic visionary, Mark has the day-to-day experience necessary to move SonaCare ahead. With the funding support we have put in place that will see us far into the future, and with Mark at the helm, I expect SonaCare Medical to accelerate significantly the growth we have experienced over the past two years in the US and internationally. ”
Michael Klein will be stepping aside as CEO after a period of transition. Under his leadership SonaCare Medical made significant progress in expanding its international network of distributors and achieving record device sales worldwide. Under Klein’s leadership, the Company also initiated the sale of the company’s revolutionary laparoscopic focused ultrasound device, Sonatherm®, to several major academic hospitals in the US.
“I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have lead such a brilliant team at SonaCare and I’m proud of our accomplishments over the past three years. I could not think of a better person to take over the company than Mark. I’m confident he and the company will achieve great success,” said Mike Klein.
About SonaCare Medical
SonaCare Medical, a privately held, venture-backed healthcare company is a world leader in minimally invasive high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) technologies. SonaCare Medical is committed to developing technologies for urological indications that offer precise and innovative procedures that can control cancer and reduce potential quality of life altering side effects. SonaCare Medical, with its subsidiary Focus Surgery, Inc., designs and manufactures high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) medical devices, including the following: Sonablate® 450 which is investigational in the U.S. and being studied in a pivotal FDA clinical trial as a possible treatment for recurrent prostate cancer in patients treated previously with external beam radiation therapy; Sonablate® 500, which has CE Marking and is, or has been, approved for use to treat prostate cancer in more than 30 countries outside the U.S.; and Sonatherm® laparoscopic HIFU surgical ablation system which is 510(k) cleared in the U.S. The FDA has made no decision as to the safety or efficacy of Sonablate® 450 or 500. In the event Sonablate® 450 is approved by the FDA for use in the U.S., there is no assurance that instructions for use or the specifications of the device will be the same for treatment approved or authorized in other countries outside of the U.S. SonaCare Medical was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C.
For additional information, visit http://www.SonaCareMedical.com
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Sandra Stein, SonaCare Medical, http://www.sonacaremedical.com, +1 7048171167, [email protected]
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