Cardica Announces New Employment Inducement Grant
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardica, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRDC) today announced that on May 20, 2015, new employee Greg Watson, the company's vice president of operations, was granted an option to purchase 400,000 shares of the company's common stock, at a per share exercise price of $0.43, the closing trading price on May 20, 2015. The stock option was granted pursuant to Cardica, Inc.'s Inducement Plan, which was approved by the company's board of directors in May 2015 under Rule 5653(c)(4) of the Nasdaq Global Market for equity grants to induce new employees to enter into employment with the company.
Mr. Watson brings to Cardica more than 25 years of experience in the medical device industry specializing in manufacturing and product development in both startup and corporate settings. He has extensive experience in transitioning products from research and development to manufacturing and associated scale-up activities. Most recently, Mr. Watson has been utilizing his experience and leadership skills to consult for start-up/mid-stage medical device firms in various stages of commercialization to establish and scale up their manufacturing operations. Prior to consulting, he held the positions of vice president of manufacturing operations and product development for Uptake Medical, and as vice president, operations and manufacturing for TherOx. Mr. Watson served twelve years at Baxter Healthcare Corporation where he held various positions in the cardiovascular division including director of operations, director of R&D and plant manager. Prior to joining TherOx, Mr. Watson spent twelve years at Baxter Healthcare Corporation where he held various positions in the cardiovascular division including director of operations, director of R&D and plant manager. Early in his career Mr. Watson held a variety of manufacturing management positions at Becton Dickinson in the production of high volume medical devices. He has started manufacturing operations, closed manufacturing plants and relocated operations both domestically and offshore. He currently holds nine U.S. patents. Greg earned his B.S. in Industrial Management from California State Polytechnic University.
About Cardica
Cardica designs and manufactures proprietary stapling and anastomotic devices for cardiac and laparoscopic surgical procedures. Cardica's technology portfolio is intended to reduce operating time and facilitate minimally-invasive and robot-assisted surgeries. Cardica's MicroCutter XCHANGE® 30, a cartridge-based articulating surgical stapling device with a five-millimeter shaft diameter, is manufactured and cleared for use in a variety of gastrointestinal procedures and appendectomies in the United States, and for a wide range of surgical procedures in Europe. In addition, Cardica manufactures and markets its automated anastomosis systems, the C-Port® Distal Anastomosis Systems and PAS-Port® Proximal Anastomosis System for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, and has shipped over 53,000 units throughout the world.
SOURCE Cardica, Inc.
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