The Board of Directors of Immucor Inc. announced that William A. Hawkins will be Immucor's next CEO. Immucor Inc. is a private company that is wholly owned by TPG Capital. Hawkins' appointment follows the decision of current CEO Joshua Levine to step down from his role. The transition will be effective October 17, 2011.

In announcing Hawkins' new role, TPG Partner Todd Sisitsky commented, "We are excited to have Bill Hawkins joining the Immucor team. He brings years of experience building some of the most dynamic, innovative companies in the healthcare industry. He is among the most respected leaders in the sector. His leadership and strategic acumen will be invaluable as the company continues implementing its highly successful growth strategy." Sisitsky added, "We are grateful for the tremendous leadership of Joshua Levine. Under Josh's leadership, Immucor has made a successful transition to private ownership. The Board is thankful for his service and respects his decision."

In accepting the position of CEO at Immucor, Hawkins said, "I am very excited for the opportunity to be taking over as CEO of Immucor, a market leader in helping secure the world's blood supply through automation. Immucor's talented management has brought forth innovation that is improving the practice of transfusion medicine."

Commenting on the announcement, outgoing CEO Joshua Levine said, "I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to lead the talented team at Immucor. Unfortunately, the challenges of having my family in California and my office in Atlanta ultimately became unsustainable, which led to my decision to step down. I am confident that under the leadership of Bill Hawkins and the rest of the management team, Immucor will continue its strong growth trajectory and industry leadership position. During this leadership change, Bill and the team will have my full support to ensure a seamless transition."

Prior to joining Immucor, Hawkins served as Chairman and CEO of Medtronic. Hawkins' career spans more than three decades. Before joining Medtronic, Hawkins was the CEO of Novoste, another Atlanta-based medical technology company. Hawkins has a consistent track record of driving value-creating innovation that has helped save lives, revolutionize medical care and strengthened healthcare systems globally. He has played a leadership role in Washington, DC on both healthcare policy and with matters involving FDA.

Given Hawkins' extensive experience in the industry, he will also serve as Senior Advisor to TPG Capital. In this role, Hawkins will advise TPG Capital on its ongoing efforts to identify investment opportunities in the healthcare industry and continue to play a role advocating for policies that will strengthen the healthcare system.

In other news, Aptus Endosystems Inc. announced the appointment of James R. Tobin to its Board of Directors. Tobin headed Boston Scientific Corp. for 10 years and was responsible for that company’s significant growth during that period.

“Jim is widely recognized as a leading medical device executive who will bring a combination of strategic vision and business acumen to Aptus Endosystems,” said Alan Kaganov ScD, Chairman of the Aptus Board. “He’s a proven and skilled executive with broad experience in healthcare markets and will be invaluable to our efforts to transform and develop an emerging medical device company focused on endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR).”

Tobin served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Boston Scientific from March 1999 to July 2009 when the company’s revenues grew from more than $2 billion to over $8 billion. During his tenure, Boston Scientific achieved a number of significant milestones, including the successful launch of the TAXUS Express paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system, numerous acquisitions and strategic alliances including the transformative acquisition of Guidant Corp., and the growth of Boston’s international business to more than 40% of the company’s annual revenues.

"The Aptus team is bringing elegant new ideas to the AAA space to address clinical needs that have to date been underserved,” commented Tobin. “The company’s devices promise to make it possible to treat a broader range of patients successfully with fewer late failures.”

Before joining Boston Scientific, Tobin served as President and CEO of Biogen Idec Inc., where he was instrumental in making it one of the world’s most successful biotechnology companies. Prior to that, Tobin was an executive with Baxter International. He became President and Chief Operating Officer of Baxter in 1992 and was responsible for all operations of the $9 billion company.

By bringing in the former CEOs of Medtronic and Boston Scientific, Immucor and Aptus Endosystems have shown they realize that in order to grow and survive in the medical device industry, it is essential to have talented and experienced executives as part of their companies. What people like Hawkins and Tobin bring to the table is a proven track record of success, the ability to lead companies and their employees, the experience to identify new market opportunities, and the skills to motivate people to create new products and technologies. Immucor and Aptus Endosystems are hoping to leverage such skills and abilities to increase growth at their respective companies.

-Richard Park