DiscGenics Names Former Medtronic Spine Exec as CFO

DiscGenics Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing regenerative cell-based therapies that alleviate pain and restore function in patients with degenerative diseases of the spine, today announced it has appointed former Medtronic Spine and Biologics finance executive, Jeff Poole, as its first chief financial officer (CFO).
 
Poole has over 13 years of progressive finance leadership experience in medical devices, and significant experience within the spine market, most recently serving as Vice President of Finance for Medtronic Spine and Biologics, a major division of Medtronic. In this role, he served as CFO for the global business unit with over $2.5 billion in annual revenue responsibility. Poole also has extensive international experience, particularly in Asia Pacific, where he held various leadership positions with increasing levels of functional and strategic responsibilities and commercial exposure to developed and emerging markets. He is also fluent in Japanese and has lived and worked extensively in Japan, where DiscGenics has a significant financial and commercial interest.
 
Poole’s appointment closely follows DiscGenics’s announcement last month that it raised $50 million in its Series C round of funding, bringing total investment in the company to just over $71 million to-date.
 
“The addition of Jeff to the DiscGenics executive team represents a huge opportunity for us as we move through our final clinical stages and evaluate various financing and commercial opportunities going forward in the U.S. and Japan,” said Flagg Flanagan, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors for DiscGenics.
 
Poole added, “I am thrilled to be joining DiscGenics because I truly believe its innovative regenerative therapy addresses an unmet clinical need and could significantly alter the definition of Standard of Care for patients suffering from spinal disc degeneration. I look forward to working with Flagg and the entire DiscGenics team to help realize the full clinical and commercial potential of IDCT for the millions of patients suffering from chronic low back pain worldwide.”
 
As CFO, Poole will report directly to Flanagan.