Velico Medical Hires Internationally Recognized Transfusion Medicine Expert Mark Popovsky, M.D.

Former Haemonetics VP to Be Chief Medical Officer

Beverly, Massachusetts (PRWEB) September 29, 2015

Velico Medical, Inc., a private, pre-clinical medical technology company developing breakthrough technologies to improve the quality, availability and economics of platelet and plasma transfusions, today announced that it has retained Mark Popovsky, M.D., as its Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Popovsky, an internationally renowned expert in the field of transfusion medicine, recently retired as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Haemonetics Corporation, a leading global blood products company. Dr. Popovsky will initially focus his efforts on accelerating Velico?s spray dried plasma program, an initiative funded by the U.S. government?s Health and Human Services, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

Dr. Popovsky?s career in transfusion medicine has been one of significant achievement, with diverse experiences at Haemonetics, the American Red Cross, the Mayo Clinic and the National Institutes of Health.

?We are thrilled to have attracted someone with Mark?s expertise and experience in transfusion medicine,? said Bill Skillman, President and CEO of Velico Medical. ?Mark?s arrival is perfectly timed as we move aggressively to advance our spray dried plasma development program into the clinic.?

?Velico Medical is developing technologies which address significant unmet needs in transfusion medicine,? said Dr. Popovsky. ?Velico?s innovative technologies are targeted to solve problems which have plagued blood bankers for decades,? he added.

Dr. Popovsky formerly held academic positions as Clinical Professor of Laboratory Medicine at Boston University Medical School and Associate Clinical Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School & Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He has authored or co-authored over 375 publications in transfusion medicine and pathology and is the editor and co-editor, respectively, of two reference books on transfusion medicine. Dr. Popovsky served on five editorial boards and has held positions on numerous AABB, national and international committees and NIH panels. He has also served on numerous advisory panels, including MassMEDIC where he was Vice Chair of the Board and Board Director. Most recently, he was appointed to the Advisory Committee on Blood & Tissue Safety & Availability (ACBTSA). He has been a frequent speaker at conferences around the world and is the recipient of numerous awards for his contributions to transfusion medicine and teaching, including the AABB?s Emily Cooley Award in 2009.

About Velico Medical

Velico Medical, Inc. is a private, pre-clinical medical technology company focused on applying proprietary technologies to improving the quality, availability and economics of platelet and plasma transfusions. We are developing two separate product candidates that, if approved, are expected to improve patient outcomes and safety and result in a more effective blood delivery system. Our technologies are expected to solve critical unmet needs in transfusing these life-saving blood products and represent opportunities for significant savings for the healthcare delivery system. The technologies underlying our product candidates are the subject of issued and pending patent applications in countries of commercial consequence to us. Our strategy is to develop, commercialize and market single-use disposables for use in processing and storing platelets and plasma, as well as a companion instrument for spray drying plasma.

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Velico Medical Contact:
Thomas A. Fitzgerald
Chief Financial Officer
978.232.8370, ext. 15
tfitzgerald(at)velicomedical.com

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/09/prweb12989074.htm