Endurance through criticism: The legendary career of Dr. John Simpson

Avinger executive chairman Dr. John Simpson Welcome to the Medsider interview series, a regular feature at MassDevice. All interviews are conducted by Scott Nelson, Founder of Medsider and Group Director for WCG. We hope you enjoy them! Dr. John Simpson.  Even if you’re a medical device newbie, you’ve probably heard of him.  He’s credited with inventing and commercializing the first over-the-wire balloon catheter used for percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA).  This single idea created the field of interventional cardiology as we know it today. Over the course of his renowned medtech career, Dr. Simpson has founded and successfully exited companies like ACS and DVI (both acquired by Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY)), CVIS (acquired by Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX)), Perclose (sold to Abbott (NYSE:ABT)), Lumend (acquired by Cordis), Fox Hollow (acquired by ev3 which now part of Medtronic (NYSE:MDT)).  It’s borderline exhausting just thinking about all of these companies, let alone starting them! Plain and simple, Dr. Simpson is a legend in the space and he isn’t done yet.  He currently serves as the Executive Chairman of Avinger (NSDQ:AVGR), where he and his team are developing a portfolio of unique cardiovascular products aimed at solving the challenging space of peripheral artery disease. In this interview with Dr. Simpson, we learn about the key lessons he’s learned throughout his historic medtech career and why he’s still fired up about medica...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Tags: Blog Avinger medsider Source Type: news