NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioNeutral Group, Inc. (OTCBB: BONU), a specialty life science technology-based company, announced today changes to its board of directors and management team. Frank Battafarano, Ron Del Mauro and Dr. Andy Kielbania have been newly appointed to the Board. Stephen Browand, Raj Pamanai, Michael Francis and Wayne Stratton have stepped down from the board. BioNeutral is grateful for their hard work and valuable contributions while serving with the Company.
Frank Battafarano has been appointed Chairman of the Board. Mr. Battafarano is the former COO of Kindred Health Care, which is the largest diversified provider of post acute care service in the U.S. with over $4 billion in revenues.
Del Mauro has joined the Board as a Director. Del previously served as CEO of Barnabas Medical Center and its predecessor Barnabas Health for more than 26 years. Barnabas is the largest integrated health care delivery system in New Jersey, serving over two million patients a year in 10 facilities.
Dr. Andy Kielbania was appointed Chief Scientific Officer of BioNeutral. He has been with the Company for the last five years and is the inventive force behind the Company's technology. The Board intends on appointing additional members who offer industry expertise and strategic leadership to help BioNeutral achieve its goals. Currently, BioNeutral is targeting its clinically proven infection control products and toxin neutralizing agents to the health care, consumer goods, and government defense industries.
The Board intends to commission an executive search firm to put forth candidates for consideration as Chief Executive Officer. In the interim, Dr. Andy Kielbania will serve as CEO of BioNeutral.
The Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Tom Thornton, Harry Fury, Phenelle Segal RN, and Steve Warren MD, to its management team. They join Tom Cunningham, who will continue to serve as the Company’s CFO.
Tom Thornton has in-depth health care experience, including appointments with GOJO, the manufacturer and marketer of America’s number one instant hand sanitizing product Purell ®. Tom will head business development and strategic alliances in the United States on behalf of BioNeutral.
Harry Furey is an equally experienced executive with a history of driving innovative medical product sales. In his career, Harry has established distribution relationships with Owens and Minor, Cardinal Health and other national and regional medical product distributors. Harry will head BioNeutral’s sales efforts to hospitals and related health care accounts, help recruit sales personnel and establish channels of distribution for BioNeutral products.
Steve Warren, MD, DPA, is a practicing long-term care physician. He is concurrently a medical director of several nursing homes, hospices and assisted living facilities. Steve has extensive experience with the aging and rehabilitation population and is active in preventing infections for this patient group. He is Board Certified in Family Medicine and Hospice/Palliative Medicine. Steve is also Board Certified as a wound care professional and has extensive experience as a medical director of a wound care company. He has worked in infection control and the development of hand sanitizers. Steve also speaks on behalf of Eli Lilly as a senior care physician. Steve will be working with the medical directors of national organizations with respect to Bioneutral’s technology and its role in helping to reduce health care infections.
Phenelle Segal, RN, CIC is well experienced in the area of infection prevention including: environmental cleaning, disinfection and sterile techniques within the healthcare sector. Phenelle has participated in government and industry-sponsored committees to examine the issues related to health care acquired infections. Phenelle will be working with key staff members in hospitals to further educate and build awareness of BioNeutral’s technology and its role in helping to reduce hospital infections.
BioNeutral plans to issue future announcements regarding changes to its financial structure. BioNeutral noted it will maintain its lab facilities at NJIT and moved into new executive offices on November 1st at 55 Madison Avenue in Morristown, NJ.
About BioNeutral Group, Inc.
Headquartered at the New Jersey Institute of Technology/EDC in Newark, BioNeutral Group, Inc., is a specialty technology-based life-science company which has developed a technology platform that neutralizes harmful environmental contaminants, toxins and dangerous micro-organisms including bacteria, viruses, mold, fungi and spores. BioNeutral's products, Ygiene® and Ogiene®, kill germs and clean surfaces with a dramatic increase in speed and power over their rivals in the marketplace. BioNeutral's proprietary platform technology has been proven effective in surface, water and airborne applications. Its antimicrobial line of products under the Ygiene® brand have been approved by the EPA for sale in the United States and has previously been approved for sale in Germany and it is also permitted to be sold in the UK, France and Sweden. Auto Neutral is a registered trademark of BioNeutral Group, Inc. For more information on BioNeutral, including a listing of company products, leadership and background please visit www.bioneutral.com.
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Forward-Looking Statements: This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" relating to the business of the Company and its subsidiary companies. These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects" or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. BioNeutral routinely tests its formulations against those of its competitors. The results are published to let shareholders know how the Company's technology compares with known formulations in the market place. Any product claim for antimicrobial activity requires approval from the EPA or FDA, depending upon where and how the formulations are used. The EPA has approved and registered the Company's data and findings specific to Ygiene-206. BioNeutral's antimicrobial formulations will be marketed under the brand name Ygiene® and are available for sale in the United States.