RIP medical device pioneer Alfred Mann | Personnel Moves

Alfred Mann, a medical device entrepreneur who helped develop several groundbreaking technologies, died yesterday at age 90, shortly after stepping down from a pair of companies he founded. Mann founded 17 companies over his 70-year career, in industries ranging from aerospace to medtech, according to the L.A. Times. After Johns Hopkins University researchers in 1969 asked him to help create a longer-lasting pacemaker, Mann turned his eye from the aerospace industry to medtech, according to the Times. In later years he founded several medical device companies, including MiniMed, which Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) acquired for $3.3 billion in 2001. Mann also started Advanced Bionics, which helped pioneer the cochlear implant; Second Sight Medical (NSDQ:EYES) and its retinal implant for treating blindness; and pharmaceutical company MannKind (NSDQ: MNKD), which is working on an inhalable insulin product. In recent weeks he stepped down from his roles at Second Sight and MannKind, the newspaper reported. “We are all deeply saddened by the loss of our founder, mentor and friend, Al Mann, a pioneering leader whose contributions and vision profoundly impacted the lives of so many and whose legacy will impact many more. Everyone he came in contact with was enriched and inspired by him. Personally, I am eternally grateful for Al’s generous guidance and support these last 16 years. At Second Sight, we all feel deeply honored to have worked alongside of and known such a remarkable pe...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Tags: Business/Financial News Abiomed Inc. Advanced Bionics LLC ConMed Corp. Corindus Vascular Robotics Gynesonics Hansen Medical Inc. LifeImage mannki Medtronic MedX Health Penumbra Inc. Personnel Moves Second Sight Medical Products I Source Type: news