Tuesday, February 10, 2009

NMT Medical’s president and CEO Ahern retiring

By Marc Songini

Boston-based device maker NMT Medical Inc. has appointed Frank Martin as interim president and CEO, replacing John Ahern.

NMT Medical (Nasdaq: NMTI) reports that current president and CEO Ahern, who has been with the company for eight years, will retire. Until a permanent successor is selected, board member Martin will retain Ahern’s roles. Ahern also announced his resignation as a director, effective February 9. NMT has retained an executive recruiting firm to locate a permanent CEO.

The current chairman of the company board, James Mahoney, Jr., noted that Martin has been CEO of several interventional cardiology device companies and has served on the NMT Board since 2001. Martin has also been an advisor and consultant to global venture capital firms, corporations and entrepreneurs. In other personnel-related news, the company also announced that Richard Davis, the current executive vice president and CFO, was promoted to the new position of COO. However, Davis will also remain as CFO. 

NMT Medical makes proprietary implant technologies that enable interventional cardiologists to treat structural heart disease via minimally invasive, catheter-based procedures. Last May, NMT Medical announced the U.S. District Court of Minnesota had awarded it $2.25 million in damages in a patent infringement lawsuit. The company had sued Burnsville, Minn.-based Cardia Inc. in November 2007, accusing it of infringing on an exclusive patent licensed from the Boston-based Children’s Medical Center Corp., with the Cardia Intrasept device, which is used in heart surgeries.