Opsens Appoints Alan Milinazzo as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors

QUEBEC CITY, March 4, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Opsens Inc. ("Opsens") (TSX: OPS) (OTCQX: OPSSF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Alan Milinazzo as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.

"We are delighted to see Alan, a renowned leader in the medical device industry, join us. Alan has had extensive success in building high-performance commercial teams in interventional cardiology. Alan's extensive experience as executive of leading global businesses and his expertise in driving adoption of new technologies for interventional cardiology, spine, and surgical products will be a precious asset for Opsens," said Denis M. Sirois who is transitioning his Chairmanship role to Mr. Milinazzo.  Sirois continues, "Opsens will greatly benefit from Alan's broad board experience and his outstanding track record of two decades of executive management in the healthcare industry".

"We have ambitious goals and our growth is just beginning. We are fortunate to have Alan join our board and benefit from his deep knowledge of the North American and international interventional cardiology market, as we expand global marketing of our optical-based FFR and dPR products to assess intracoronary pressure and designed to provide the lowest drift in the industry," said Louis Laflamme, President and CEO of Opsens. 

"I am excited to be joining the Opsens board of directors at such a dynamic phase of the company's growth and evolution. The company is well positioned to drive adoption of its state-of-the-art physiology and optical based technologies and to continue to bring important innovation to the minimally invasive markets," said Mr. Milinazzo. "I am looking forward to working with the Board and Management to accelerate and optimize the market opportunities for our technologies and in doing so, to unlock significant value for our shareholders," he added.

Alan Milinazzo is a Partner at Heidrick & Struggles' in Boston and a member of the Global Healthcare and Life Sciences Practice specializing in the Medical Device sector. Prior to joining Heidrick & Struggles, Alan was chief executive officer of InspireMD, a pioneer in embolic prevention systems (EPS) for coronary and vascular applications. He previously served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Orthofix International N.V., a $600 million publicly traded global orthopedic and Spine Company, as well as general manager of Medtronic, Inc.'s coronary and peripheral vascular businesses where he was instrumental in the development and commercialization of several key products, including the company's first coronary drug-coated stent platform, Endeavor. Mr. Milinazzo also spent 12 years with Boston Scientific in multiple global sales and marketing leadership roles during a period of unprecedented top line growth in the cardiology franchise.

Alan currently serves as a director of Flexion Therapeutics (Nasdaq: FLXN), CasMed (Nasdaq: CASM) and the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation. Prior directorships included LDR Spine (Nasdaq LDRH acquired by Zimmer-Biomet) Medpace (acquired by PE sponsor Cinven), HET Systems (acquired by Covidien) and LumenR (acquired by Boston Scientific).  He earned a bachelor's degree, cum laude, from Boston College and interned at the White House, the US House of Representatives and the John F. Kennedy Library.

Denis M. Sirois remains on the BOD

"Opsens warmly thanks Denis M. Sirois for his contribution as he held the helm of the board for the past four years. We are grateful for his innovative ideas and strategic thinking that have allowed Opsens to make great strides," added Louis Laflamme. "Denis will remain on the Board to continue building the Company," Laflamme concluded.

About Opsens Inc. (www.opsens.com or www.opsensmedical.com)

Opsens focuses mainly on the measure of FFR and dPR in interventional cardiology. Opsens offers an advanced optical-based pressure guidewire that aims at improving the clinical outcome of patients with coronary artery disease. Its flagship product, the OptoWire, is a 2nd-generation fiber optic pressure guidewire designed to provide the lowest drift in the industry and excellent lesions access. The OptoWire has been used in the diagnosis and treatment of over 50,000 patients in more than 30 countries. It is approved for sale in the United States, European Union, Japan, and Canada.

Opsens is also involved in industrial activities in developing, manufacturing and installing innovative fibre optic sensing solutions for critical applications.

Forward-looking statements contained in this press release involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance and achievements of Opsens to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the said forward-looking statements.

Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE OPSENS Inc.