InVivo Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Heather M. Hamel as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: NVIV), a research and clinical-stage biomaterials and biotechnology company with a focus on the treatment of spinal cord injuries, today announced the appointment of Heather M. Hamel, J.D. as its Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel. In her role, Ms. Hamel will lead the company’s legal and intellectual property functions, and provide strategic guidance to the company’s Board of Directors and executive management team. Ms. Hamel will also be responsible for the oversight of certain other functions, including business development, human resources and external communications. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Hamel served as the company’s Vice President of Legal Affairs and Business Development.

“On behalf of our Board of Directors and management, we are delighted to have Heather leading our legal department and we’re looking forward to the valuable contributions that she will continue to make as a member of the executive team during this exciting time for InVivo,” said Richard Toselli, M.D., InVivo's President and Chief Executive Officer. “Heather has been an instrumental member of the InVivo team and has proven her ability to work cross-functionally on variety of complex strategic matters. Her unique and highly relevant skill set is an invaluable asset to our company as we prepare for the INSPIRE 2.0 top line data readout expected in the first quarter of 2023.”

“I look forward to continuing to work with the Board and my colleagues at InVivo in our mission to deliver meaningful innovation to patients in this area of unmet need. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of this effort from an early stage and am very excited to be able to contribute further as a member of our leadership team,” said Ms. Hamel.

At InVivo, Ms. Hamel has held responsibility for a broad array of legal and transactional matters, including legal oversight of equity financing transactions and securities reporting, as well as business development procurement, intellectual property management and corporate governance. Prior to InVivo, Ms. Hamel worked at Ecolab, Inc., where she oversaw a variety of legal matters including intellectual property strategy, patent prosecution and litigation management. Ahead of her role at Ecolab, Ms. Hamel worked at PLR IP, Inc., where she was responsible for global intellectual property licensing and partnering across a range of assets. Earlier in her career she worked in private practice at Schwegman, Lundberg and Woessner, P.A., and at the Washington Center as a legal associate. Before starting her legal career, Ms. Hamel spent several years as a scientist working as a biomaterials research associate at the University of Wisconsin. Ms. Hamel has also served as an external legal advisor to several early-stage pharmaceutical companies.

Ms. Hamel holds B.S. degrees in biochemistry and chemistry from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, a J.D from William Mitchell College of Law, and a Master of Liberal Arts degree in general management, extension studies from Harvard University.

About InVivo Therapeutics

InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. is a research and clinical-stage biomaterials and biotechnology company with a focus on treatment of spinal cord injuries. The company was founded in 2005 with proprietary technology co-invented by Robert Langer, Sc.D., Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Joseph P. Vacanti, M.D., who then was at Boston Children’s Hospital and who now is affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital. The publicly traded company is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. For more details, visit www.invivotherapeutics.com.