Cytomedix Appoints David A.
Hotchkiss as Vice President for Sales and Marketing
Monday October 9, 8:00 am ET
Seasoned Executive to Leverage Wound Care Expertise as Company
Seeks to Broadly Commercialize Its Products
ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 9, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Cytomedix, Inc. (AMEX:GTF)
today announced that David A. Hotchkiss, a seasoned executive with
extensive experience in the wound care market, has joined the
Company as Vice President, Sales and Marketing.
Mr. Hotchkiss will lead the effort to achieve immediate sales growth
by building on the current autologous platelet gel customer base and
will assist in the Company's effort to obtain third party
reimbursement for its AutoloGel(tm) System, with an ultimate focus
on access to the broader wound care market.
"With the immediate opportunity to sell our product to certain
segments of the market, and with the FDA reviewing the Company's
510(k) Pre-market Notification for AutoloGel(tm) for specific
indications, the time is right to strengthen our Sales and Marketing
function,'' said Kshitij Mohan, Chairman and CEO of Cytomedix.
"David will be able to leverage his extensive experience in the
wound care space and his significant familiarity with the
reimbursement process as we embark into this exciting phase. His
proven sales successes make him the ideal person to lead our
commercial efforts.''
Mr. Hotchkiss most recently served as Vice President, Sales and
Marketing for Coloplast Corporation, the U.S. division of The
Coloplast Group, the $1.2 billion Danish medical supplies and
devices company. Prior to Coloplast, Mr. Hotchkiss held senior level
positions with several other medical companies with a focus on wound
related products. Mr. Hotchkiss earned his bachelor of arts degree
in business administration at the University of North Texas.
"Cytomedix is at a very exciting point in time with the development
of the AutoloGel(tm) System,'' said Mr. Hotchkiss. "The Company is
the first to complete such a rigorous, well-controlled, multi-site
clinical trial for platelet gel therapy in the treatment of diabetic
foot ulcers. With its strong patent position, there exists
tremendous opportunity to improve patient health and grow revenues
at the same time. I look forward to developing and implementing an
aggressive sales and marketing strategy to help the Company achieve
its goals.''
ABOUT CYTOMEDIX
Cytomedix, Inc. is a biotechnology company specializing in processes
and products derived from autologous platelet releasates for uses
with wounds and other applications. The current offering is
AutoloGel™System, a process that utilizes an autologous platelet gel
composed of multiple growth factors, other platelet releasates, and
fibrin matrix. The Company has announced favorable results from its
blinded, prospective, multi-center clinical trial on the use of its
technology with diabetic foot ulcers. Additional information
regarding Cytomedix is available at: http://www.cytomedix.com
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
Statements contained in this press release not relating to
historical facts are forward-looking statements that are intended to
fall within the safe harbor rule for such statements under the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The information
contained in the forward-looking statements is inherently uncertain,
and Cytomedix's actual results may differ materially due to a number
of factors, many of which are beyond Cytomedix's ability to predict
or control, including among others, the success of new sales
initiatives, governmental regulation, acceptance by the medical
community and competition. There is no guarantee that the FDA will
complete its review of the Company’s 510(k) submission for a
specific wound healing indication within any estimated timeframe, or
that the FDA will fully agree with the Company in the interpretation
of the data or the regulatory pathway and provide marketing
clearance. Further, even assuming the FDA grants the Company’s
request for marketing clearance, there is no guarantee that the
Company will receive Medicare reimbursement for its product; the
Company’s marketing efforts will be successful; or that it will be
able to achieve its other strategic goals. There is also no
guarantee that the Company’s current capitalization will be
sufficient to attain its goals or that future funding will be
available to the Company on acceptable terms. These forward-looking
statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual events to differ from the forward-looking
statements. More information about some of these risks and
uncertainties may be found in the reports filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission by Cytomedix, Inc. Except as is expressly
required by the federal securities laws, Cytomedix undertakes no
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, changed circumstances or
future events or for any other reason.
SOURCE: Cytomedix, Inc.
The Wall Street Group, Inc.
Ron Stabiner
(212) 888-4848 |
