MicroCHIPS Taps Medical Industry Veteran as Next CEO

BEDFORD, Mass., April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- MicroCHIPS, Inc., a developer of intelligent implant systems, has announced the appointment of Ajit S. Gill as President and Chief Executive Officer.  Mr. Gill, most recently CEO of Auspex Pharmaceuticals, is best known for his leadership of Nektar Therapeutics, a company he grew from a start-up to a public biopharmaceutical company.

"We are very pleased that Ajit is joining MicroCHIPS," said Terry McGuire, co-founder and general partner at Polaris Venture Partners. "We founded MicroCHIPS based on microreservoir technology originally developed at MIT, and we are leveraging advances in microfabrication to create transformative healthcare products.  Under John Santini's leadership as co-founder and CEO, our product platform is now poised to enter the clinic."  McGuire continued, "Ajit's depth of experience in product development, fundraising and partnering will provide critical strength as MicroCHIPS moves into its next phase of growth and commercialization."  

During his fourteen-year tenure at Nektar, Mr. Gill led the growth of the company from a start-up to a public firm with a market cap of over $2 billion and over 800 employees.  Under his direction, Nektar became a leader across multiple delivery technology platforms, completed over 30 strategic alliances with biopharmaceutical partners, and developed products with these partners that account for over $4.5 billion in sales.

"Joining MicroCHIPS provides a tremendous opportunity to be part of a company that is taking breakthrough technology out of the lab and into clinical development," said Mr. Gill.  "I look forward to bringing these novel, intelligent devices to patients and to the clinicians who care for them."  

MicroCHIPS, which recently completed a $16.5M round of funding to support the next phase of its development, is creating a new generation of sophisticated medical systems that can sense critical biochemical changes and rapidly deliver therapy.  The company has two programs in significant diseases that are slated for initial clinical testing this year.  The first is a long-lived implant for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for people with diabetes, and the second is an in-body device designed to deliver precise doses of an anabolic bone-building therapy for severe osteoporosis.

About MicroCHIPS' Technologies

MicroCHIPS' technologies are being applied to the creation of intelligent in-body devices that can sense vital biochemical changes, deliver potent drug therapies and communicate using wireless technologies. First developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the technologies use microreservoir arrays to store and protect chemical sensors or potent drugs within the body for extended periods of time. The reservoir arrays are compatible with preprogrammed microprocessors, wireless communications and sensor feedback loops to provide precise, dynamic control of sensor activation and drug release.

About MicroCHIPS

MicroCHIPS, Inc. is pioneering intelligent implanted devices designed to improve the health of millions of people with critical conditions that require careful monitoring and precise therapy. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.mchips.com.

SOURCE MicroCHIPS, Inc.