Sphere Medical appoints two Non-Executive Director

7 January 2015

Sphere Medical Holding plc

Appointment of two highly experienced medical technology professionals as Non-Executive Directors

Cambridge, UK, 7 January 2015: Sphere Medical Holding plc (AIM: SPHR.L) ("Sphere Medical" or the "Company"), a leading provider of innovative monitoring and diagnostic devices for the critical care setting, today announces the appointment of Dr David Martyr and Meinhard Schmidt to the Company's Board as Non-Executive Directors with immediate effect.

Dr Martyr has held several senior level positions of medical, diagnostic, life science and laser technology companies for more than 20 years. He has extensive experience in driving growth, profitability and innovation in medical technology businesses. David is currently CEO of Tecan AG, a Swiss listed laboratory instruments and solutions company with a market capitalisation of approximately CHF1BN. Prior to that he spent 13 years at Leica Microsystems which was acquired by Danaher Corporation in 2005, his last position being Group President Leica Microsystems with US$1.3BN of sales and 4,500 employees and simultaneously VP & Group Executive, Danaher Corporation, with responsibility for the development of the Life Science and Diagnostics business platform. Whilst at Leica Microsystems he successfully completed 10 business acquisitions and integrations and three acquisitions in the US for Danaher Corporation and he also played a central role in the sale of Leica Microsystems by Permira to Danaher Corporation. David is also a Non-Executive Director of ALDA (Analytical Life Science Diagnostics Association), based near Washington DC.

Mr Schmidt joins Sphere Medical with more than 20 years of international experience as an entrepreneur and senior executive in the healthcare, diagnostics and medical devices industries. Between 1998 and 2008 Meinhard was at Roche Diagnostics where he held various senior leadership roles in Diabetes Care, Lab Diagnostics and was Senior VP and Head of Roche Decentralized Solutions, which achieved the leading global position in the Near Patient Testing market. Meinhard has strong board level experience and has worked across M&A, global operations, sales and marketing, programme and innovation management and has held executive management positions in Germany, The Netherlands, USA, Canada, Sweden, UK and Switzerland. Meinhard is currently a Board Director at Quanta FS Ltd, valuationLAB AG and Chairman at Promimic AB.

Dr Anthony Martin, Non-Executive Chairman of Sphere Medical, said: "Following receipt of the CE marks for Proxima 3, Sphere Medical is now in the phase of targeted launches within the UK and preparing for launches in Germany and Benelux. I am pleased that David and Meinhard have decided to join the Board at this time to help with the international expansion of the Company. This strengthening of the Board will allow flexibility in succession planning after my nine years as Chairman and both Meinhard's and David's considerable experience in business development and M&A will assist us in our future strategic planning and corporate relationships."

Dr Wolfgang Rencken, Chief Executive Officer of Sphere Medical, said: "I am pleased to welcome David and Meinhard to the Sphere Medical Board. Over the past year Sphere has been transforming itself into a commercially-focused business. We are delighted that we have reached a position where we can attract such senior medical technology specialists. Both David and Meinhard bring significant experience in commercialising leading medical devices as well as a strong business development and M&A track records."

Dr David Martyr, Non-Executive Director of Sphere Medical, said: "Bringing Proxima to market in the UK and Europe marks a significant step for Sphere. I'm delighted to join the Board at this time and to be able to contribute to the Company's growth as it commercialises what I see to be a new standard of care for blood gas analysis in the intensive care environment."

Meinhard Schmidt, Non-Executive Director of Sphere Medical, said: "I am delighted to be joining Sphere Medical at this key time in its corporate development. Sphere Medical's newly-launched Proxima system brings a clear advance in intensive care blood gas analysis. I look forward to working with the Board to deliver the value in this ground-breaking technology."

The following information is disclosed pursuant to Schedule Two paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies:

Dr David Roy Martyr, age 57

Current Directorships / Partnerships

Tecan Schweiz AG, Chairman, Switzerland

Tecan Trading AG, Chairman and Geschaeftsfuehrer, Switzerland

Tecan Group AG, Geschaeftsfuehrer, Switzerland

ALDA (Analytical Life Science Diagnostics Association), Washington DC

Previous Directorships / Partnerships (held in the past five years)

Leica Microsystems GmbH, Germany

Leica Microsystems A/S, Denmark

Leica Microsystems AB, Sweden

Leica Microsystems B.V., Netherlands

Leica Microsystems Belgium BVBA

Leica Microsystems CMS GmbH, Germany

Leica Microsystems IR GmbH, Germany

Leica Microsystems KK, Japan

Genetix KK, Japan

Leica Microsystems SAS, France

Leica Microsystems, S.P.A., Italy

Leica Microsystems Trading (Shanghai) Ltd. China

Leica Mikrosysteme Handelgesellschaft mbH, Austria

Leica Microsystems Vertrieb GmbH, Germany

Leitz Vermogensverwaltungs und Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Germany

Leica Biosystems Nussloch GmbH, Germany

Leica Microsistemas - Instrumentos De Precisao, Portugal

Leica Microsystems (SEA) Pte Ltd., Singapore

Leica Microsystems S.L. (Unipersonal), Portugal

Leica Microsystems Pty Ltd, Australia

Dr David Martyr does not currently hold any ordinary shares in the Company.

Meinhard Folkert Schmidt, age 54

Current Directorships / Partnerships

Quanta Fluid Solutions Ltd

ValuationLab AG

Promimic AB (Sweden)

Previous Directorships / Partnerships (held in the past five years)

Cellnovo Ltd

Open Digital Dentistry AG

Dental Wings Ltd (Canada)

Software Mileage AG

Meinhard Schmidt was a director of Software Mileage AG, a developer of software for the medical, life science and health care industries, from July 2013 until June 2014. Software Mileage was placed into liquidation and subsequently dissolved on 18 November 2014.

Meinhard Schmidt does not currently hold any ordinary shares in the Company.

There are no other disclosures required in relation to Rule 17 or paragraph (g) of Schedule 2 of the AIM Rules for Companies.

For further information, please contact:

Notes for Editors

About Sphere Medical (AIM: SPHR.L) 

Sphere Medical is a medical device company developing a range of innovative monitoring and diagnostic devices designed to significantly improve patient care.

Sphere Medical's vision is to become a leading solution provider to the critical care market offering innovative, near real time, point of care diagnostic and monitoring products to enable closer control of therapeutic response and improve patient outcomes and reduce the overall cost of care.

Sphere Medical's strategy is focused on Proxima, the device for measuring blood gases, electrolytes and metabolites. Proxima was commercially launched in October 2014 and the Company continues to develop product enhancements and analyte expansions.

The Company plans to sell its products directly to the critical care market, which includes the ICU and OR, with dedicated field sales forces in the UK, Germany and Benelux, and work with partners for worldwide distribution.

Sphere Medical's products deliver near real time analysis of blood gases, electrolytes and drug levels with laboratory accuracy, at the patient's bedside. Sphere Medical's products can be used in a wide range of medical applications, enabling faster clinical decision making and improved patient outcomes, whilst reducing costs for healthcare payers.

Sphere Medical entered into a collaboration agreement with Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. in 2013 for the development of Proxima and enhancement of Sphere's operational and production capabilities.

The Company is developing partnership strategies for the development of the Pelorus platform for measuring drug levels in blood.

Sphere Medical has a number of partnerships with industry leading medical device companies and has received a strategic investment from Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (now part of Carlyle Group). Other significant investors include Life Sciences Partners (LSP Life Sciences Fund).

For further information, please visit www.spheremedical.com