SAN DIEGO, Oct. 3, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Accumetrics, Inc., a privately held medical device company and maker of the VerifyNow(r) family of diagnostic tests that measure platelet function, today announced that the company has appointed Steven T. Frankel as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Robert S. Hillman, the co-founder of the Company, will assume the role of Chairman of the Board and serve as liaison to the scientific and medical community as well as pharmaceutical and device companies.
Mr. Frankel has served in top-level executive positions in the medical diagnostics industry over a 30-year period and was most recently President of ACON Laboratories, Inc., a leading company in the medical diagnostics market. Earlier this year a significant portion of ACON was sold to Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. Previously he was CEO of Quidel Corporation and was also President of various divisions of Becton, Dickinson and Company.
"Accumetrics is excited that Steven Frankel has accepted the position of CEO. His well proven CEO leadership skills as well as his long track record of success in commercializing diagnostic products in both small privately held companies as well as large international public companies is exactly what Accumetrics needs to take its product line to the next level," said Dennis Wahr, MD, partner in RiverVest Venture Partners.
"I'm looking forward to the opportunity of bringing my experience in managing business operations, global marketing and sales, and corporate development in the medical diagnostics field to Accumetrics," said Steven T. Frankel.
"We are excited about Steven's leadership of our management team and his addition to a strong syndicate of investors and board members in the medical diagnostic arena," said Robert S. Hillman, "I look forward to working with Steven to build on the momentum of the VerifyNow(r) System, advancing our efforts to raise awareness of the importance of platelet response issues."
About Accumetrics (www.accumetrics.com)
Accumetrics develops, manufactures, and markets the VerifyNow System, a comprehensive system for the assessment of platelet function. Modulation of platelet function plays a critical role in effectively treating cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and peripheral vascular disease. VerifyNow is the only rapid platelet function test shown to correlate with clinical outcomes. The tests provide doctors with an easy to use, automated, rapid and accurate way to monitor platelet function to optimize the effectiveness of antiplatelet therapies and to guide treatment decisions in patients who may be at risk of bleeding complications. Accumetrics markets VerifyNow tests for aspirin, Plavix(r) and GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors.
Plavix(r) is a registered trademark of Sanofi-Synthelabo.