ReGen Biologics Adds New Board Member
BY JOHN MCCORMICK, JUNE 14, 2004
On Thursday, ReGen Biologics named William R. Timken, a founding partner of Hambrecht & Quist, to its Board of Directors. This is not necessarily a new relationship since Timken has been an investor and advisor to the Company for over 10 years. We called CEO Dr. Gerald Bisbee to get his perspective.
Dr. Bisbee told us that 'the rationale is that Bill's exceptional background in growing small healthcare companies, corporate finance and capital markets will augment the character of our Board.' We note that the ReGen Biologics Board of directors has a substantial body of clinical talent. By adding Timken it gives the Board another experienced venture capital viewpoint. The board is largely comprised of outsiders and despite Mr. Timken's being a longtime investor in the Company, his relatively small holdings do not qualify him as an insider.
Others we spoke to in the industry applauded the move indicating that it balances out the Board. It was also noted that 'Bill Timken is very well known in the investing community, has a tremendous amount of experience in raising capital and has a great deal financial market savvy.'
ReGen Biologics develops and manufactures tissue repair products. The Company's core technology is a Collagen Meniscus Implant (CMI), which is designed to grow new meniscus tissue for knee patients suffering from meniscus loss. ReGen expects to begin modular submission to the FDA of its PMA for the CMI in Q3 2004 and conclude with submission of the clinical module in Q1 or Q2 2005. The CMI is currently distributed in Europe, Australia and Chile through Zimmer. Major investors and shareholders include Sanderling Ventures, Zimmer, and L-R Global Partners.
