LivaNova
(Nasdaq: LIVN)
announced today that its board of directors appointed Vladimir A. Makatsaria as its CEO and a member of the board.
The appointment goes into effect on March 1, 2024. He succeeds Bill Kozy, who took over the CEO role on an interim basis in April 2023 when Damien McDonald resigned from the corner office.
Makatsaria most recently served as company group chair at Johnson & Johnson MedTech. He took up that position in October 2018 to lead the company’s global Ethicon surgery business. Overall, he spent more than 27 years at the medtech giant, including stints as the company’s group chair for medical devices in Asia Pacific and as the J&J chair for China.
“Vlad is a respected leader in the medical device industry with a proven reputation for delivering results, driving innovation and building great teams,” said Bill Kozy, LivaNova Board Chair. “The Board and I have great confidence that Vlad is the right CEO to advance the Company’s strategic plan and achieve our goals for long-term growth.”
Makatsaria takes over amid a time of change at LivaNova. The company announced last month that it planned to wind down its advanced circulatory support (ACS) business unit. This orderly wind-down came as part of an effort to focus on the company’s core cardiopulmonary (CP) and neuromodulation units.
“I look forward to working with the global team to deliver meaningful medical technologies to the patients we serve and to achieve LivaNova’s full potential,” said Makatsaria. “I would like to thank the board of directors and Bill Kozy for the opportunity to serve as CEO of LivaNova.”