Orchestra BioMed™ Bolsters Leadership Team with Appointment of Inessa Wheeler as Vice President, Strategy and Marketing
Ms. Wheeler brings an extensive track record in marketing, strategy and commercial program development
New Hope, PA – Orchestra BioMed, Inc. (“Orchestra BioMed” or the “Company”), a biomedical innovation company developing high impact, high value, evidence-based therapeutic solutions for medical procedures that address major medical conditions, announced today that it has appointed Inessa Wheeler, MBA, as Vice President of Strategy and Marketing.
Ms. Wheeler is a proven healthcare strategic marketing executive with over 15 years of experience in marketing strategy and commercial program development. Prior to joining Orchestra BioMed, Ms. Wheeler served since 2010 as President of D&E Strategy, LLC, a business strategy and marketing consulting firm that worked with established as well as start-up medical device and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to D&E Strategy, Ms. Wheeler was Group Marketing Manager for LifeCell Corporation, a regenerative medicine company that was acquired in 2017 by Allergan plc for $2.9 billion. Prior to LifeCell, Ms. Wheeler was a Product Director for Cordis, (a Johnson & Johnson company, subsequently sold to Cardinal Health for $1.9 billion), where she worked on marketing strategy and commercial programs for cardiovascular, neurovascular and endovascular interventional products. Ms. Wheeler earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.S. in Chemistry from The College of New Jersey.
Starting in 2013, Ms. Wheeler was engaged through D&E Strategy by the predecessor companies that were acquired to form Orchestra BioMed (Caliber Therapeutics®, BackBeat Medical® and FreeHold Surgical®) in May 2018. In this capacity, she provided strategy and marketing guidance toward the development and market positioning of Orchestra BioMed’s lead development products, the Virtue® Sirolimus-eluting Balloon and BackBeat® Cardiac Neuromodulation Therapy, as well as to the Company’s commercial-stage surgical devices, FreeHold Duo® and FreeHold Trio®. She has also provided strategy and marketing services to Motus GI (Nasdaq:MOTS) in which Orchestra BioMed is major strategic equity holder.
“We are delighted that Inessa agreed to join our leadership team on full-time basis. Her track record and her extensive prior experience with Orchestra BioMed’s product portfolio makes her ideally suited to drive strategy and marketing for these exciting products,” commented David Hochman, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Orchestra BioMed. “Her appointment is another important step in ensuring we have the right core expertise in place to execute our business strategy focused on the development of high impact, high value, evidence-based product innovations that are optimally positioned for clinical and commercial realization through partnerships with established market leaders.”
“Orchestra BioMed is working to differentiate itself as a leader in the development of innovative solutions that can transform critical areas of procedure-based medicine and help address major unmet needs such as artery disease and hypertension,” Ms. Wheeler stated. “Having already spent years working as an advisor to help advance and position what I believe is an extraordinary pipeline of products, I am truly excited to join the team that will help drive these important therapies to market.”
About Orchestra BioMed™
Orchestra BioMed, Inc. is a biomedical innovation company focused on developing high impact, high value, evidence based therapeutic solutions for medical procedures that address major medical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and hypertension, that affect large patient populations and drive a significant portion of healthcare costs. Orchestra BioMed’s business strategy is to leverage partnerships with established global market leaders to optimize the clinical impact and commercial value of its products. Orchestra BioMed expects to generate long-term, high margin cash flow from royalties, revenue sharing, and licensing and development payments from strategic partners that secure commercial rights to Orchestra BioMed-developed products. Orchestra BioMed’s core innovation and development expertise is in the areas of drug delivery, bioelectronics and neuromodulation, as well as interventional, robotic and other minimally-invasive therapeutic devices. The Company’s lead cardiovascular therapies, which were developed from concept stage by Orchestra BioMed’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, are highly proprietary and have demonstrated promising clinical results in addressing specific high-need patient populations with artery disease and hypertension. The Virtue® Sirolimus-Eluting Balloon (SEB), is a novel, first in-class device that delivers delayed-release bioabsorbable particle encapsulated Sirolimus, the proven gold-standard drug for preventing restenosis of treated arteries, to the vessel wall during balloon angioplasty without the need for a permanent implant. BackBeat® Cardiac Neuromodulation Therapy (CNT), is a patented implantable cardiac stimulation-based treatment for hypertension that immediately and substantially lowers blood pressure while simultaneously modulating autonomic nervous system responses that normally drive and maintain blood pressure higher.
Forward Looking Statements
Some of the statements made herein constitute forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future financial and other performance or anticipated plans and are identified by words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “could,” “scheduled,” “plan,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “potential,” “propose” and “continue” or negative variants of such terms. These and similar forward-looking statements discuss the Company’s future expectations and plans. The Company operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. Given these risks and uncertainties, the Company cautions against placing undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements are only estimates of future performance. Actual performance or events may not meet such expectations or estimates and may, in fact, differ materially.
Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements made herein are reasonable, the Company cannot and does not guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, the Company does not assume any responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of such forward-looking statements in the future. The Company does not plan and, subject to applicable law, undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements made herein after the date hereof in order to conform such statements to actual results.
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Source: Orchestra BioMed, Inc.