Biom’up Appoints Thierry Darnis as Global Vice President, Manufacturing & Engineering

SAINT-PRIEST, France, March 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biom’up, specialist of surgical hemostasis, today announced the appointment, effective May 2, 2018, of Thierry Darnis as Global Vice President Manufacturing and Engineering.

Thierry Darnis, 54, brings extensive experience in the management of major manufacturing sites for medical devices, acquired at top-tier global companies. At Medtronic and CR Bard he managed plants pursuing a successful twofold objective of increasing volumes, while optimizing costs. Before joining Biom’up, Thierry Darnis was deputy chief executive officer of Sofradim Production, a subsidiary of Medtronic plc (Dublin, Ireland/Minnesota, USA), in charge of the Trevoux plant (340 employees) that he managed for more than 12 years. He has a Ph.D. in Life and Health Sciences, specialized in Biomaterials, from the University of Bordeaux II.

At Biom’up, Thierry Darnis will be tasked with completing the production scale-up for HEMOBLAST^TM Bellows while reinforcing team structures in order to meet production targets. His strategic understanding and tactical experience acquired over a career of 28 years will help assist the existing teams during the phase of intense growth in production.

This appointment follows the recent announcement of a new production plant to be completed in 2020 on the occasion of the visit to Biom’up of David Kimelfeld, President of Lyon Metropole. This new plant will make it possible to increase production capacity for HEMOBLAST™ Bellows in line with sales targets.

Etienne Binant, Chief Executive Officer of Biom’up, said: "Thierry Darnis' arrival to take charge of production and scale up is excellent news for Biom’up and its teams. His experience in managing large manufacturing units, his analytical rigor and thorough understanding of operational issues related to scale up and production will allow Biom’up to advance to a new level. Manufacturing is critical to our growth strategy, requiring permanent support of and relations with the marketing and business development teams."

Thierry Darnis said: "I am delighted to become a member of Biom’up's teams and contribute my experience at this critical juncture of the company's growth. The company's goal to become a major global player in the surgical hemostasis market, as well as the strong ambitions of its stakeholders are extremely compelling. The launch of this new plant by 2020 in conjunction with scaling up existing production facilities to keep pace with growing sales, represents a truly stimulating and exciting challenge. I would like to thank in advance Biom'up's teams for their welcome. I am convinced that together, building on the strength of their engagement, we will be able to achieve our goals".

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About Biom’up

Founded in 2005 and based in the Lyon suburb of Saint-Priest (France), Biom’up designs hemostatic products based on patented biopolymers that aim to simplify surgical procedures in numerous specialties (spine, cardiothoracic, general, orthopedic, plastic) and give patients a better quality of life. Its flagship product, HEMOBLAST™ Bellows, is a unique hemostatic solution, ready to use (no preparation time needed, no need to mix, no heat required), usable once or several times during the surgery. Developed by a world-renowned scientific team, HEMOBLAST™ Bellows has obtained positive results for all the primary and secondary endpoints of Phase III of its pivotal study involving 412 patients in the United States. HEMOBLAST™ Bellows obtained its CE Mark in December 2016, and its PMA (Pre-Market Approval) application was granted by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) in December 2017. Since its creation, Biom’up has benefited from the support of prominent European investors such as Bpifrance, Innobio, GIMV, Lundbeckfond, Mérieux Participation, SHAM and ACG, as well as all the Company’s managers, who have invested €2 million in equity. Biom’up is now listed on Euronext.