Scient’x Groupe, S.A. Appointing Spinal Orthopedic Industry Executive Oliver Burckhardt as President and Chief Executive Officer
Scient’x Groupe, S.A. announced today that veteran industry executive Oliver Burckhardt is joining the company as its President and Chief Executive Officer following the retirement from the Company of Michael D. Huggins.
Mr. Burckhardt was formerly President of Orthofix Spine, Inc. and was responsible for the global Spine business units, where revenues exceeded US$100 million in 2008. Prior to Orthofix, Mr. Burckhardt was with Aesculap, where he served as the Vice President of Spine Sales and Marketing and played a key role in building the USA and international Aesculap spine business from start-up. His experience includes developing and commercializing spinal implants, M&A, initiating marketing strategies and establishing meaningful relationships with leading spine surgeons throughout the world. Well respected throughout the industry, his balance of U.S. and international market development experience in spine is uniquely suited to leverage Scient’x’s core competencies in motion preservation and fusion.
Mr. Burckhardt stated, “I am excited to join this global organization with a 20-year history of developing truly innovative products and clinical solutions for spine surgeons and their patients. I look forward to collaborating with its surgeon customers and working with their world class team to leverage the Company’s strengths.”
“Oliver Burckhardt is a highly respected executive who will continue to grow the Scient’x global franchise. His experience in driving innovative product development will build on the Company’s reputation for innovation,” said Michael D. Huggins, retiring President and Chief Executive Officer.
“During his tenure as President and Chief Executive Officer of Scient’x, Mike Huggins strengthened the platform and positioned the Company for significant growth. His many achievements have been substantive and include development and mining of key clinical data, a successful restructuring of Scient’x USA operations, compliance upgrades, expansion of the global scientific advisory board and building out the research and development team. We are deeply appreciative of the contributions he has made. Looking forward, we are confident that Oliver’s experience and abilities will serve the Company well as we begin this exciting new chapter at Scient’x. As a result of this event and the Company’s conservative cash management processes, our funds have made a significant incremental investment in the company to support ongoing product and business development and clinical data initiatives,” stated Mortimer Berkowitz III, Chairman of Scient’x.
