(PRESS RELEASE) WALTHAM, MA – Avedro Inc., an ophthalmic pharmaceutical and medical device company and leader in corneal remodeling, announced that James F. Schuermann has joined the company as chief business officer.
Schuermann will lead the global government affairs, health economics and reimbursement, communications, sales, field service, marketing and business development functions and will report to Avedro’s CEO, Reza Zadno.
“Jim joins us at an opportune time as we continue to grow our business within the U.S. and abroad and make progress with our U.S. reimbursement initiatives,” said Zadno. “We are excited that he has decided to join Avedro in this important executive role and look forward to leveraging his proven expertise of bringing innovative healthcare products to market globally that improve patients’ lives. He will help us to drive growth and reach key business goals.”
Schuermann will oversee the expanded commercialization of Avedro’s crosslinking drugs and devices, including the expansion of sales territories and reimbursement support in the U.S. and continued expansion in key international markets in Europe and Asia. He brings more than 20 years of global medical device experience and joins Avedro from Medtronic, where he served as vice president and general manager of mechanical circulatory support, a $300 million business unit made up of legacy HeartWare and related ventricular assist device systems.
Prior to Medtronic, Schuermann served as senior vice president, sales and marketing, HeartWare Inc., where he grew revenue from initial commercial launch to $277 million via global expansion into 42 countries. HeartWare was acquired by Medtronic for $1.1 billion in 2016. Schuermann also spent nearly a decade at Boston Scientific, where he held several sales and marketing leadership roles, eventually reaching global director of marketing of the company’s $235 million endourology franchise. He is a member of Lumicell Inc.’s board of directors, an industry leader in the field of image-guided cancer surgery. Schuermann holds a B.S. in marketing from Indiana University and an M.B.A. in finance and general management from Golden Gate University.
“I am thrilled to be joining Avedro at a time of exciting commercial and clinical progress,” said Schuermann. “Avedro has a strong leadership team and an exciting pipeline. I look forward to working with them to drive growth and advance programs that create value for patients and physicians alike.”