Robert Palmisano appointed president and CEO of endovascular device firm

April 7, 2008, Plymouth, MN--ev3 Inc., a global endovascular device company whose products include optical coherence tomography (OCT) technology, named Robert Palmisano--former president and CEO of IntraLase--as its new president and CEO. ev3 develops and manufactures products used by endovascular specialists to treat peripheral vascular and neurovascular diseases and disorders; last year the company merged with Foxhollow, whose Nighthawk system combines OCT imaging technology with the company's FDA-cleared SilverHawk plaque-excision system.

Palmisano succeeds James Corbett, who has resigned as chairman, president, and CEO. Dan Levangie, a current ev3 director, has been appointed non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Palmisano brings more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries to ev3. He most recently served as president and CEO of the eye-laser company IntraLase, which was acquired by Advanced Medical Optics in April 2007. Earlier in his career, from April 1997 to January 2001, Palmisano was president and CEO of Summit Autonomous, an eye-laser company that was acquired by Alcon in October 2000.

"Bob Palmisano is a proven leader and hands-on operator with the right combination of experience to lead this company through the next phase of our growth and success," Levangie said. "He has a proven record of creating value for shareholders. During his tenure at IntraLase, he took the company to profitability and led the successful acquisition of IntraLase by American Medical Optics in April 2007."