NATICK, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Allurion Technologies, a pioneering leader in the development of innovative, scalable and trusted weight loss experiences, today announced the appointment of four new additions to the senior management team. These new hires bring an array of deep expertise to Allurion in areas including finance, sales, marketing, quality assurance and regulatory affairs.
The new hires include Chris Tomosivitch, Chief Financial Officer; Benoit Chardon, Vice President of Sales & Marketing; Wayne Medeiros, Director of Quality Assurance; and Melody Bi, Director of Regulatory Affairs.
Chris Tomosivitch has been appointed Chief Financial Officer. Previously, Chris was the CFO at Boston Heart Diagnostics, where he managed a team of approximately 100 professionals. Prior to joining Boston Heart Diagnostics, Chris held senior global finance roles at Haemonetics Corporation and Cardinal Health. In total, he has over 20 years of experience in corporate finance. Chris will be based out of Allurion’s headquarters in Natick, Massachusetts.
Benoit Chardon has joined the team as Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Benoit has 15+ years of experience as a sales and marketing leader in consumer-facing medical devices. He has held executive positions at high-growth start-ups like Filorga and Zeltiq and two of the world’s most renowned medical aesthetic players: Galderma and Allergan. His responsibilities have included building brand equity and driving revenue, profit and share growth of $500 million brands. Benoit will be based out of Allurion’s Paris office.
Wayne Medeiros has been hired as Allurion’s Director of Quality Assurance. He joins Allurion after having spent the last 10 years at Cardinal Health (formerly Medtronic and Covidien), most recently as a senior manager for quality engineering. Prior to his work at Cardinal, Wayne held multiple roles at Innovative Spinal Technologies, DePuy Mitek, and Genzyme Biosurgery and brings over 30 years of Quality Assurance experience to Allurion. Wayne will be based in Natick.
Melody Bi, Ph.D. joins Allurion as Director of Regulatory Affairs. She came to Allurion from Smith & Nephew where she was a Principal Regulatory Specialist for the company’s Advanced Surgical Division. Before joining Smith & Nephew, Melody held a variety of roles in regulatory affairs and R&D functions at Covidien, C.R. Bard, and 3M. Melody has more than 15 years of experience in medical device regulatory affairs covering both new product submissions in the US and EU and international product registrations. Melody will be based in Natick.
“We are thrilled to have these four seasoned and accomplished professionals join our growing team,” said Shantanu Gaur, M.D., Allurion’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. “The skills and capabilities they bring to Allurion are additive and complementary, particularly as we work towards our regulatory filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and scaling our products across the world.”
Allurion’s flagship device is the Elipse® Balloon – a procedureless™ gastric balloon for weight loss. Elipse received its European Union CE mark in 2015 and is currently available at weight loss centers in countries across Europe and the Middle East. Almost 10,000 individuals have already been treated.
“We have been able to drive an exceptional level of growth by putting our revolutionary technology in the hands of a world-class team,” said Samuel Levy, M.D., Allurion’s co-founder and President. “In addition, the talented and experienced executives we have been able to bring on-board share Allurion’s core values that date back to when we started this company as students at Harvard Medical School.”
Earlier this year, Allurion announced the completion of enrollment in the ENLIGHTEN Study, its pivotal U.S. clinical trial for Elipse. More than 62,000 individuals visited the trial website since the first patients were treated in February 2018.
About the Elipse Balloon
The Elipse Balloon is a procedureless weight loss device that is swallowed and removed without surgery, endoscopy, or anesthesia. The Elipse System received its European Union CE mark in 2015 and is currently available in Europe and the Middle East. It is not approved by the FDA and is not currently available commercially in the United States.
The Elipse Balloon is made of a thin, flexible polymer film. The device is swallowed in a capsule and filled with liquid through a thin delivery catheter, which is then detached. The balloon remains in the stomach for approximately four months, after which it opens, allowing it to empty and pass naturally from the body without the need for a removal procedure. A pilot clinical study and recent 135-patient clinical trial conducted outside the United States in overweight and obese individuals demonstrate an average weight loss of 13 to 15 kilograms (29 to 33 pounds), which equates to approximately 15% of total body weight.1,2 Participants also saw improvements in their triglycerides, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and quality of life.1
About the ENLIGHTEN Study
ENLIGHTEN is a randomized, sham-controlled study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Elipse Balloon. For more information, please visit: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03261453.
About Allurion Technologies
Allurion Technologies is dedicated to helping people realize their full potential with innovative, scalable and trusted experiences. The company's flagship product, the Elipse Balloon, is the world’s first and only swallowable, procedureless gastric balloon for weight loss. Learn more about the Elipse Balloon and Allurion online at www.allurion.com, on Facebook at www.fb.com/allurion or on Twitter @alluriontech.
References:
- Raftopoulos and Giannakou. The Elipse Balloon, a swallowable gastric balloon for weight loss not requiring sedation, anesthesia or endoscopy: a pilot study with 12-month outcomes. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2017;13:1174-1182.
- Al Sabah et al. The safety and efficacy of the procedure-less intra-gastric balloon. Surg Obes Relat Dis. doi:10.1016/j.soard.2017.12.001.
