Camstent Ltd., the company applying proprietary bacteria-phobic polymer coatings to medical devices, announces the appointment of Mark Harwood as CEO. Mark is a respected figure with an exceptional track record in the medical device sector.
Mark is returning to the UK from Malaysia where he spent two and a half years undertaking consultancy and M&A projects with healthcare businesses in the region. This included transforming a family-run emergency services business into a mid-sized corporation. In the UK, Mark is best known for his time as CEO of PneumaCare, the Cambridge UK-based respiratory monitoring medical imaging company. Here, he developed a range of respiratory products, instigated global clinical studies, published numerous papers and significantly expanded the company’s distribution network and sales.
Mark spent a number of years in the US in leading roles in medical device companies including President and CEO of Arjo Huntleigh, Global Vice President of Baxter International Inc., and President of RF Technologies (North America & EMEA). Prior to this Mark was UK and Ireland Managing Director at Arjo Med AB, a global supplier of medical devices.
Camstent’s founder and CTO, Dave Hampton, said: “We are very fortunate to have Mark join us as Chief Executive Officer. His arrival comes at a critical time for Camstent and the Board believes he will play a pivotal role in the company’s next stage of development. Mark has an outstanding track record of growing small medical device companies into global players as well as managing large teams where he oversees all aspects of a business including sales, marketing and manufacturing. He also has extensive regulatory and quality experience which will be key for us as we look to expand our sales into the US, a market where he has a considerable knowledge.”
Mark Harwood said: “I am joining Camstent at a very exciting time for the business and I am looking forward to working in the UK once again. Camstent’s bacteria-phobic coatings have the potential to become real game-changers in the battle against infections caused by medical devices.
I am eagerly anticipating working with the team to grow the company sales, increase awareness of Camstent’s products, develop customer relationships and reporting on the company’s continued progress to investors.”
About Camstent
Camstent’s mission is to address the problem of hospital-acquired infections that affect 1 in 25 patients (300,000 people in England and 1.7 million in the US). Thirty-eight per cent of these are the result of catheter associated urinary infections, increasing patient morbidity and length of hospital stays. In the US, as many as 99,000 patients die from these infections every year; 37,000 in Europe and almost 10,000 in the UK. After extensive development by Camstent, the bacteria-phobic polymers, which were first discovered at the University of Nottingham in 2012, have been formulated as a coating for catheters and other silicon/silastic medical devices.
Camstent hold accreditation to the internationally recognized quality standard ISO 13485:2016, which states the requirements of the Quality Management System (QMS) for the design and manufacture of Medical Devices.
The Camstent coated catheters offer enhanced lubricity, with the aim or improving patient comfort during catheter insertion and removal. They are CE marked / certified for drainage of urine and are available for sale in the UK and EU.
