Paris, May 17, 2016 – Mauna Kea Technologies (Euronext: MKEA, OTCQX: MKEAY) inventor of Cellvizio®, the multidisciplinary confocal laser endomicroscopy platform, today announced the appointment of Pierre Forest to the position of Chief Operating Officer, effective June 1st. In this position, he will be responsible for worldwide operations and commercial execution, including the advancement of the Company’s recently announced partnership strategy. Mr. Forest, who will be based in Paris and report to Mauna Kea Technologies Co-Founder and CEO, Sacha Loiseau, joins the Company with more than 30 years of management, sales, marketing and operational experience in the healthcare industry.

 

Mr. Forest succeeds Florian Kemmerich, who was retained by the Company as Interim Chief Operating Officer in late 2015 to help pilot the operational transition of th e company around the new commercial strategy. “The Board of Directors is very pleased to add someone of Pierre’s caliber and experience to the Mauna Kea Technologies leadership team. Pierre’s successful track record delivering excellence to high-growth, life-science companies is a natural complement to Mauna Kea Technologies’ technical and clinical expertise. We are delighted to benefit from Pierre’s important contribution”, said Christopher D. McFadden, Chairman of the Board of Mauna Kea Technologies.

 

Loiseau added, “The Company is at a critical inflection point as it both expands clinical indications and improves market penetration through its new partnering strategy. Pierre will considerably strengthen our executive team, and I am looking forward to driving Mauna Kea Technologies alongside him to a higher level of growth and success. I also would like to thank Florian for his leadership and counsel during the past six months. With his guidance, our team has strengthened its capacity to successfully implement new partnerships, capabilities that will improve our overall execution.”

 

From 2011 to 2015, Mr. Forest was CEO of Novescia SAS, a biology lab network operator. During his tenure as CEO, Novescia's EBITDA grew from €6 million to €29 million, allowing the acquisition of the company by CEL/PAI partners. Previously, he was CEO of Abbott France Instrument SAS and General Manager of the Company’s Diagnostics division, and has held a range of senior-level positions including Deputy General Manager of Applera France SA (a division of Applied Biosystems), Managing Director of Paxar SA France and Paxar Morocco, Business Line Director – Western Europe for Siemens AG, Managing Director of Acuson Corporation.

 

“I am honored to join the Mauna Kea Technologies team and contribute to its continued advancement. The Cellvizio platform represents a much-awaited paradigm shift in the use of digital in vivo microscopic visualization to bring the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other serious diseases to a new level of efficiency and reliability. I believe that the Company has a tremendous opportunity to provide its ground-breaking technology to a wide range of medical and surgical fields. I would like to thank the Board for the confidence they have placed in me, and am eager to begin contributing to the company’s future expansion.”