BandGrip Names Dirk Benson As New CEO

CHICAGO, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovator of the Micro-Anchor Skin Closure, BandGrip names long-time Medline Industries executive Dirk Benson as chief executive officer. He brings more than two decades of leadership and revenue-growing experience to BandGrip from the global manufacturer and distributor of healthcare products. Benson says he made the move because he sees BandGrip as the company that will revolutionize the surgical wound closure market, especially as the healthcare industry more fully embraces telemedicine.  

"This area of healthcare is ripe for innovation," Benson said. "Surgical wound closure is being performed using the same technology for over 50 years, and it's time for an evolution.  BandGrip, with its patented micro-anchor skin closure technology, is that evolution.  I consider BandGrip the most advanced and intuitive skin closure device in the industry."

BandGrip is a 3.5"x1.5" bandage that offers a minimally invasive method of skin closure without the use of needles or staples. Its design enables a variety of healthcare professionals to apply the bandage without the involvement of a surgeon. BandGrip uses non-invasive micro-anchors that grip the skin gently and securely to pull skin edges together and reduces skin closure time by more than 30%.

Orthopedic surgeons alone are expected to perform more than 6.6 million procedures in 2020. With one in seven Americans reporting an orthopedic impairment, surgeons are looking at ways to reduce closure time and improve ambulation. BandGrip has shown to save 12 minutes of time during the average total knee arthroscopy alone.

Fred Smith, founder of BandGrip, said of Benson: "Dirk is a significant addition to our management team. He has strong commercial leadership experience and has built a multi-billion-dollar revenue producing sales force in his career. Our team is impressed with Dirk's strategic vision for BandGrip, and we're honored to have him take the helm, growing visibility and sales for the BandGrip brand."

Smith has stepped out of his CEO spot and into an executive chairman of the board role at the medical device company.

On mission to enhance the surgeon and patient experience

The executive moves come as the evolving healthcare industry looks for real solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for surgeons who have adopted a more integrated telemedicine protocol into their post-operative care. BandGrip already has established itself with hospitals and health systems as an operating room time-saver that results in an improved patient experience with the minimal scarring it leaves behind. Now, BandGrip is an answer to the challenges of mitigating risk amid the coronavirus crisis. In this age of social distancing and physicians establishing a new standard of care because of it, BandGrip enables patients to skip the post-operative office visit for the removal of traditional skin closure dressings such as sutures and staples. With BandGrip, patients are instructed to take off the adhesive skin closure bandage themselves from home with a teleconference visit from their surgeon to see how the surgical incision is healing. 

"When you combine the simplicity of application for surgeons in the OR with the fact that now patients want to reduce visits to their doctor's offices and can do so by removing the BandGrip at home, I knew we had something special here," added Benson, who is not only impressed with BandGrip's current intellectual property portfolio but also its next generation of products in the pipeline.

Benson plans to commercialize BandGrip, focusing first on expanding exposure of the product at hospitals and surgical centers. "If more surgeons see it, they will incorporate it into their procedures.  We have to get to work to make sure surgeons know BandGrip exists, it's capabilities and it's availability."

"Traditional skin closure techniques are barbaric," Smith said. "Post-operative visits are traumatic for patients as they experience pain with the in-office removal of sutures and staples and now face a risk of exposure to COVID-19."

BandGrip executives see replacing sutures and staples with its products in the skin closure market. "There will always be a need for sutures and staples, but these traditional skin closures are no longer necessary for a majority of surgical cases," Benson noted. "Ultimately, our goal is for BandGrip to become the premier skin closure product in the industry."

According to industry analysts, the global wound closure devices market is valued at more than $13 billion and demand is expected to grow, in part, due to a rising number of surgical cases and an increasing number of accidents.

Beyond the surgical suite, BandGrip's leadership team sees its products in other areas of the healthcare space, including skilled nursing facilities. As nursing homes work to avoid sending their residents to the emergency room after a fall, BandGrip can easily be applied and removed by staff for deep cuts to an elderly patient's weak skin.

Additionally, BandGrip envisions its bandage being applied in the consumer market, among outdoor enthusiasts. As more people seek safety in the sun and fresh air during outside adventures – from riding bikes to rock climbing – a fall might result in a deep laceration. The wound could be treated immediately in remote areas with BandGrip, avoiding a trip to the ER.

For more information on BandGrip's wound closure technology, visit www.bandgrip.com. See the quick and easy application of BandGrip by clicking here, and the removal of it by clicking here. 

About BandGrip, Inc.
Based in Chicago, BandGrip was founded in 2015 with the goal of developing a faster, easier, and minimally invasive way to safely close wounds. The emerging medical device company canvassed surgeons to identify ways to reduce closure time, improve ambulation, and minimize scarring. As a result, the company's team of medical professionals developed the patented technology behind the BandGrip Micro-Anchor Skin Closures. Today, BandGrip is advancing the wound-closure market by delivering medical innovations that allow hospitals and doctors to reduce procedure time and improve the patient experience, while envisioning a future where its products can help improve the lives of people around the world. BandGrip was named one of the Top 10 Orthopedic Solution Providers of 2019 by MedTech Outlook, an industry magazine committed to covering the trends, challenges, and solutions that impact the healthcare and medical device sectors.

SOURCE BandGrip, Inc.