KALAMAZOO ? Afmedica, a drug device company, has hired Gary Story as President and Chief Executive Officer. Story has been involved in development of major life sciences products as a pharmaceutical executive, serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist.
Story was the co-founder of seven medical companies, served as a board member for over a dozen medical device and pharmaceutical firms and has been a general partner with several first tier Silicon Valley venture capital companies.
“I am very pleased that Gary has joined Afmedica as our CEO,” said Donald Parfet, Chairman of the Board of Afmedica and a principal in ApJohn Ventures. “His vast experiences and sterling reputation will serve the company very well during or next phase of development.”
Afmedica is a private company formed in 2002. Its portfolio of intellectual property is built around the local delivery of sirolimus and its analogs, a drug that revolutionized the treatment of coronary artery disease when it was used in the first drug eluting stent and dramatically reduced restenosis rates. Investors in Afmedica include individuals, Apjohn Ventures, and TGap Ventures.
“Afmedica’s technology offers one of the most significant advances in medicine that I have seen in the last 20 years,” Story said. “I am excited to be able to advance the company’s development plans and lead what I believe is going to be one of the most exciting combination drug/device firms to emerge in this decade.”
Story earned a B.S. in Biochemistry from Colorado State University and an M.S. in Industrial Pharmacy from the University of Nebraska. He has been recognized for pioneering several advances in medicine and has been a speaker at many medical and investor conferences. He is often referred to as the “father of personal glucose monitoring” where as a founder of LifeScan (a Johnson and Johnson company), he conceived the first pocket-size portable glucose testing device, a product that is today used worldwide by over 10 million people with diabetes to help them control their disease.
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