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Management shakeups take place at STAAR Surgical
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MONROVIA, Calif. — STAAR Surgical announced a major reorganization of its management team May 30, as John R. Wolf was immediately removed from his positions by the board of directors as chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer.
In his place, the board elected Andrew F. Pollet as chairman. Chief operating officer William C. Huddleston was named interim president and CEO. Mr. Pollet has served as a director of STAAR since 1990, and Mr. Huddleston was chief financial officer from 1990 to 1999 until his promotion to COO in 1999.
The board of directors has formed a search committee compromised of outside members of the board, Mr. Pollet, Peter Utrata, MD, and Volker Anhaeusser, MD.
In a press release, Mr. Pollet explained, “The recently announced reorganization and restructuring leaves the company at a very critical stage in its development and we believe Mr. Huddleston is best suited to implement the stated plan. We are now in a position to grow our core business so as to significantly increase revenues and earnings. We are excited about the future as we couple our new products with a changed organization to achieve our financial goals.”
STAAR is shifting its focus and resources from being a research and development oriented company to a sales and earnings entity. After years of developing a base cataract business, STAAR is in phase 3 trials for the ICL, and the company is expecting to receive approval within the next 10 months for the Aqua-Flow collagen glaucoma drainage device.
Although Mr. Wolf is currently still a member of the board of directors for STAAR, a representative of the company stated that it was unlikely Mr. Wolf would be returning requests for an interview, and Mr. Wolf could not be reached for comment personally. The company representative was not allowed to elaborate on any other details of the decision to remove Mr. Wolf from his positions.
For Your Information:
- STAAR Surgical Co. can be reached at 1911 Walker Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016; (626) 303-7902; fax: (626) 303-2962; Web site: www.staar.com.