Popper and Company's New Senior Advisors Offer Deep Operational Business Experience To Help Clients Address Complex Healthcare Industry Challenges

BALTIMORE, Aug. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Popper and Company, an M&A advisory and specialty consulting firm leveraging its extensive knowledge of the trends, forces and forward thinkers shaping all aspects of healthcare, announced today that it has added three industry veterans as senior advisors. Michael C. Little, Ph.D., who recently retired from his role as VP/Global Head Diagnostics Development, Companion Diagnostics Unit, Novartis Oncology; David L. Scher, M.D., pioneer adopter of remote patient monitoring and thought leader on the topic of digital health technology; and Niall Sweeney, an innovator of drug delivery, medical information, orthopedics and dentistry products, have joined the Popper and Company team. Each of these professionals brings deep operational business experience and further strengthens the capabilities that Popper and Company offers its clients as they address some of the most complex challenges facing the healthcare industry today.

"We founded Popper and Company in 2003 with a strong belief that bringing diverse perspectives from complementary disciplines to bear on healthcare challenges could reduce inefficiencies in the delivery of healthcare," said Caroline Popper, M.D., the firm's Co-founder and President. "Today, with the addition of Michael, David and Niall to our team, we have the ability to bring even broader and more diverse perspective, plus excellent problem-solving capabilities, to clients that are interested in improving the healthcare system."

About Popper and Company's New Senior Advisors

Michael Little, Ph.D.,  joins Popper and Company following a long tenure in senior executive roles in the in vitro diagnostic (IVD) and companion diagnostic (CDx) industries, most recently at Novartis. He brings strong technical experience, a track record in developing and launching products in both industries, and significant experience in building technical organizations, developing leaders in technical organizations, and, when required, facilitating turn-arounds of these organizations. Mike offers to Popper and Company clients his experience-based, practical, integrated, and proven means of achieving business goals.

David Lee Scher, M.D., is a cardiac electrophysiologist, and a pioneer adopter of remote patient monitoring and integration of monitored devices with electronic health records. Today, he writes and speaks about mobile health technology, specifically remote patient monitoring and mobile medical apps, as a technology and patient advocate – and is author of the long-running and respected DIGITAL HEALTH CORNER blog. His experience spanning the health care spectrum as a clinician, clinical investigator, Medicare committee member, and IRB Chair provides him with a unique technology life cycle perspective. He works with clients to add a clinical perspective to the development and implementation of new technologies, a perspective that is critical to success from both operational and clinical outcomes standpoints. David also devotes much of his time to many HIMSS initiatives and committees.

Niall Sweeney has repeatedly grown businesses by delivering innovative medical products in markets such as drug delivery, medical information, orthopedics and dentistry. At Becton Dickinson, he created a product development capability and award-winning safety needles, a product which grew to a $200 million business. At Stryker Spine, he led the U.S. development group and launched nine implant systems over a period of three years, winning several awards and generating $57 million in incremental revenue. In addition to leading technical and marketing organizations, he has performed and led all aspects of product development from inception to post-launch support.  Niall's experience will be invaluable to Popper and Company clients needing astute strategic assessment and actionable plans for tactical execution.

"The Popper and Company team's real-world, hands-on operational experience in business and in healthcare and our active roles in a wide spectrum of settings allow us to address our clients' critical strategic and business needs in ways that many other firms cannot," said Popper and Company Co-founder Ken Walz. "We are excited to offer the expanded perspective that Mike, David and Niall now bring to the team. Each of these individuals has taken technologies from concept into clinical practice. They know first-hand how to positively impact the delivery of healthcare."

About Popper and Company

Popper and Company was founded with a belief that only by bringing diverse fields of study and perspective to bear on each challenge could healthcare inefficiencies be reduced. Today, the Popper and Company team of physician entrepreneurs, analysts, engineers, scientists and clinicians brings to each assignment unique perspective and problem-solving capabilities. The team's deep understanding of the convergence of healthcare and technology provides a framework for helping clients improve the healthcare delivery system and to support the empowered healthcare consumer. The firm supports companies at all stages of their life cycle (from Fortune 100 public companies to small, private start-ups as well as academic medical centers and institutions), leveraging its extensive knowledge of the trends, forces and forward thinkers shaping all aspects of healthcare. Learn more about how Popper and Company can help your company reinvent healthcare delivery at www.popperandco.com.

SOURCE Popper and Company