Catherine Burzik Appointed Interim Chief
Executive Officer
Geoffrey Gillespie Appointed Interim Chief
Financial Officer
Puja Leekha Appointed Interim Chief Legal
Officer
Orthofix Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: OFIX), a leading global spine and
orthopedics company, today announced that Catherine Burzik, Chair
of the Orthofix Board of Directors, has been appointed Interim
Chief Executive Officer; Geoffrey Gillespie, Orthofix Vice
President, Corporate Controller, has been appointed Interim Chief
Financial Officer; and Puja Leekha, Orthofix Senior Vice President,
Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, has been appointed Interim
Chief Legal Officer. The appointments are effective immediately and
follow the unanimous decision by the Board’s independent directors
to terminate for cause Keith Valentine, John Bostjancic and Patrick
Keran from those respective roles. The Board also requested that
Mr. Valentine resign from the Board. The Board will immediately
begin a search for permanent successors.
The Board’s decision follows an investigation conducted by
independent outside legal counsel and directed and overseen by the
Company’s independent directors. As a result of the investigation,
the Board determined that each of these executives engaged in
repeated inappropriate and offensive conduct that violated multiple
code of conduct requirements and was inconsistent with the
Company’s values and culture. These matters are unrelated to and do
not impact the Company’s strategy, results of operations or
previously filed financial statements.
Catherine Burzik, Chair of the Orthofix Board, said, “Orthofix’s
core values are built around fostering, cultivating and preserving
a culture that is respectful, and we do not condone harassing or
inappropriate conduct or statements of any kind. We require all
employees – and especially our leaders – to behave in accordance
with the Company’s values. The Board did not make these decisions
lightly. We believe they are necessary to ensure our employees,
investors, customers, and other stakeholders have confidence in the
Company’s leaders.”
Stuart Essig, Ph.D., Chair of the Board’s Nominating, Governance
& Sustainability Committee, said, “Cathy is among the most
respected executives in medtech with more than 30 years of
experience across the diagnostics, life sciences and medical device
industries. Her leadership on the Orthofix Board and her record
guiding other global companies, including as CEO, made her the
natural choice to serve as Interim CEO at Orthofix. We know that
Cathy, along with our proven business unit leaders and teams, will
help ensure the continued execution of the Company’s strategy and a
smooth transition while the Board conducts its executive
search.”
Ms. Burzik continued, “Sales momentum and progress on
integration initiatives demonstrate the strength of our
differentiated spine and orthopedics solutions, and the caliber of
our business unit leaders and teams that know how to execute. Our
expanded portfolio is driving cross-selling opportunities, making
us a stronger partner to distributors and the surgeons who rely on
our technology for the patients they treat.”
Ms. Burzik added, “With our merger closed earlier this year, I
have come to know well our business leaders and have the utmost
confidence in them. We are fortunate to benefit from a broad team
who has a solid understanding of our combined company, is executing
our integration plan and is delivering the benefits we expected
when the transaction was announced. The appointments today tap into
this talent. We thank Geoff and Puja for stepping into their
expanded roles. I look forward to working closely with them and the
outstanding teams across the organization.”
Investor Conferences
The Company noted that it will not be participating at the
Morgan Stanley conference on September 13, 2023 as previously
announced and that the investor day planned for September 20, 2023
has been postponed.
About Interim CEO Catherine Burzik
Catherine Burzik was re-appointed Chair of the Orthofix Board in
June 2023. She previously served as the Company’s Chair of the
Board from 2021 to 2022 before assuming the position of Lead
Independent Director of the new combined board that was formed from
the merger of SeaSpine and Orthofix.
She was President and Chief Executive Officer of Kinetic
Concepts, Inc., a global medical device company, from 2006 until
the Company’s sale in 2011. Prior to that, Ms. Burzik served as
President of Applied Biosystems Group and held senior executive
positions at Eastman Kodak and Johnson & Johnson, including
Chief Executive Officer and President of Kodak Health Imaging
Systems and President of Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., a
Johnson & Johnson company.
Currently Ms. Burzik is a member of the Board of Directors of
Becton, Dickinson and Company, where she Chairs the Quality and
Regulatory Compliance Committee and serves on the Corporate
Governance and Nominating Committee. Additionally, she serves as
Chairman Emeritus of StemBioSys, Inc. and Chairman Emeritus of the
American College of Wound Healing and Tissue Repair.
Ms. Burzik previously served on the Board of Directors for the
San Antonio Branch of the Dallas Federal Reserve Board, Allscripts,
Inc., Bausch & Lomb, Cordis Corporation, Haemonetics
Corporation and AdvaMed.
In 2019, Ms. Burzik received the AdvaMed Lifetime Achievement
Award that honors accomplishments of pioneers in the medical
technology industry whose contributions have had a significant
impact on patients’ lives and the industry as an essential part of
America’s economy.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Canisius
University and a Master of Arts Degree in Mathematics from the
University of Buffalo.
About Interim CFO Geoffrey Gillespie
Geoffrey Gillespie has served as the Vice President-Corporate
Controller of Orthofix since May 2021, and previously served as
Senior Director of U.S. Accounting and Consolidations for over nine
years.
Prior to joining Orthofix, Mr. Gillespie held various financial
reporting management roles at Flowserve, and prior to that, at
Deloitte for over seven years.
Mr. Gillespie holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Accounting
and Finance from the University of Utah and a Masters of Business
Administration in Finance from Baylor University.
About Interim Chief Legal Officer Puja Leekha
Puja Leekha joined Orthofix in 2023 as Senior Vice President,
Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer. In this role she is
responsible for all aspects of the Company’s compliance program and
policies, ensuring that Orthofix’s business practices and
interactions with health care professionals are compliant with
current legal and industry standards in all global markets.
Prior to joining Orthofix, Ms. Leekha spent more than 18 years
in a variety of legal and compliance roles within the medical
device and pharmaceutical industries, including with Stryker and
Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals, and as a litigator with the law firm now
known as Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP defending medical
device and pharmaceutical companies in product liability actions.
Her clients included Johnson & Johnson companies such as DePuy
Orthopaedics.
She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering
with a Biotechnology specialization from Northwestern University
and a Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in St.
Louis. She was the Managing Editor of the Washington University
Global Studies Law Review and served as a law clerk for a federal
court judge.
About Orthofix
On January 5, 2023, Orthofix and SeaSpine merged to form a
leading global spine and orthopedics company with a comprehensive
portfolio of biologics, innovative spinal hardware, bone growth
therapies, specialized orthopedic solutions, and a leading surgical
navigation system. Its products are distributed in approximately 68
countries worldwide.
The Company is headquartered in Lewisville, Texas and has
primary offices in Carlsbad, CA, with a focus on spine and
biologics product innovation and surgeon education, and Verona,
Italy, with an emphasis on product innovation, production, and
medical education for orthopedics. The combined Company’s global
R&D, commercial and manufacturing footprint also includes
facilities and offices in Irvine, CA, Toronto, Canada, Sunnyvale,
CA, Wayne, PA, Olive Branch, MS, Maidenhead, UK, Munich, Germany,
Paris, France and Sao Paulo, Brazil. A new name for the combined
entity will be announced at a future date; the Company will
continue to operate as Orthofix until said announcement.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may include forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended, and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements
by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,”
“anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,”
“predicts,” “potential,” “continue” or other comparable
terminology. Orthofix cautions you that statements included in this
news release that are not a description of historical facts are
forward-looking statements that are based on the Company’s current
expectations and assumptions. Each forward-looking statement
contained in this news release is subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied by such statement. Applicable risks
and uncertainties include, among others: the ability of newly
launched products to perform as designed and intended and to meet
the needs of surgeons and patients, including as a result of the
lack of robust clinical validation; and the risks identified under
the heading “Risk Factors” in Orthofix Medical Inc.’s Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, which was
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 6,
2023. The Company’s public filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission are available at www.sec.gov. You are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of the date when made. Orthofix does not intend to revise
or update any forward-looking statement set forth in this news
release to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date
hereof, except as may be required by law
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230912526930/en/
Media Relations Denise Landry DeniseLandry@orthofix.com
214.937.2529
Investor Relations Louisa Smith, Gilmartin Group
IR@orthofix.com
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