Max E. Link, Ph.D.
Chairman of the Board
Max Link, Ph.D. has served as Chairman of our Board of Directors since October 2003. Dr. Link served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Centerpulse AG, the largest orthopedics company in Europe, from March 2002 until October 2003, when Centerpulse was acquired by Zimmer Holdings, Inc.
Prior to joining Centerpulse, Dr. Link served as the Chief Executive Officer at Corange Limited/Boehringer Mannheim and as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals (now part of Novartis).
Since 1994, Dr. Link has been actively involved as a director in development stage companies in the healthcare and biopharmaceutical field both in the United States and in Europe, including Human Genome Sciences, Inc., Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Celsion Corporation and Discovery Laboratories, Inc.
Dr. Link received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland in 1970.
Eric K. Olson
Chief Executive Officer, President & Director
Eric Olson is the Chief Executive Officer & President of AMEDICA. Mr. Olson has over 20 years experience in the orthopedic and spinal device markets. Most recently, he was the Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Axial Biotech, Inc. Previously, he was the Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Facet Solutions, Inc. He has also held senior sales and marketing positions with Medtronic Neurological and Smith & Nephew.
Mr. Olson holds an undergraduate degree in Behavioral Science and Health Administration from the University of Utah, and has also completed a master's-level internship program from the same institution.
Rohit Patel, MBA, MS
Director
Rohit Patel has been a member of our Board of Directors since 2003 and an advisor to AMEDICA since its inception. Since May 2004, Mr. Patel served as the Chief Executive Officer of Ellis, Inc., a technology company developing and marketing English language learning software, until retiring from Ellis in October 2006 after successfully transitioning the company to its new owner, Pearson Publishing. Prior to joining Ellis, from 2002 to 2004, he served as a consultant to NIIT, Ltd. of India and Ellis. From September 1996 to December 2001, Mr. Patel served as President of BNA Communications, Inc. and Executive Director of BNA Inc. and was responsible for three of its publishing divisions. BNA, Inc. is a leading publisher of information and analysis products for professionals in law, tax, business, and government based in Washington, D.C., and is the largest employee-owned company in the United States.
From 1987 to 1995, Mr. Patel held various positions, including Chief Executive Officer, with Wicat Systems, Inc., a global developer of flight training and desk-top simulation software. Mr. Patel has an M.B.A. from Michigan State University and a M.S. in engineering from the University of Wisconsin.
David W. Truetzel, MBA, CPA
Director
David W. Truetzel has approximately 20 years of experience in the financial services and technology industries in both a consultative and operating capacity. He is a General Partner of Augury Capital Partners, which he co-founded in 2006. He was a General Partner of Hela Capital Partners, a partnership focused on leveraged buyouts in the financial services industry, from 2001 through 2005. In addition, Mr. Truetzel was a Managing Director of Gryphon Investments II, a technology focused venture capital firm, from 2000 through June of 2004.
Prior to the sale of Kinexus Corporation, a Gryphon portfolio company, to Advent Software, Mr. Truetzel served as the Acting Chief Financial Officer of Kinexus Corporation. From 1985 to 1995, Mr. Truetzel worked in the Corporate Finance Division of A.G. Edwards & Sons, with the last five years of his tenure serving as Managing Director with responsibilities for new business development. From 1995 to 1997, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Paymentech, a New York Stock Exchange listed subsidiary of First USA.
Mr. Truetzel managed the financial function and successfully assisted Paymentech in its initial public offering and secondary offering and orchestrated approximately 22 acquisitions over a two-year period. In 1998, Mr. Truetzel joined Llama Holdings, a merchant-banking firm, where he executed numerous merger and advisory assignments and participated as principal on several buyouts. In 1999, he joined Paylinx Corporation as Chief Financial Officer and was responsible for all financial functions, including a successful $30 million private equity financing and sale to CyberSource Corp. Mr. Truetzel sits on the Board of Directors of Enterprise Bank, Inc, Verifi Inc., Clearent, LLC and Paranet, LLC. Mr. Truetzel holds a B.S. in Accounting from Saint Louis University, an MBA from The Wharton School and is a certified public accountant. He and his wife Stephanie have been married for 27 years and have three adult children.
Gregg R. Honigblum
Director
Gregg Honigblum has been a member of our Board of Directors since December 2006. Mr. Honigblum has more than 20 years of experience as a financier for emerging growth companies primarily in the healthcare area.
Gregg has been instrumental in providing early stage financing for companies such as Myriad Genetics, Inc. and Acacia Biosciences, Inc., which merged with Rosetta Inpharmatics, Inc. and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Merck.
Since 2001, Mr. Honigblum has been the Chief Executive Officer and founder of Creation Capital LLC, an investment banking firm specializing in the financing and development of early stage medical device and biotechnology companies. Creation Capital has served as the placement agent for our private financings and has provided, through its client base, more than $73 million of equity capital. Mr. Honigblum holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Texas at Austin.
B. Sonny Bal, MD, JD, MBA
Director
Dr. Bal is an Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Missouri, Columbia, specializing in hip and knee replacement surgery. He also is an Adjunct Professor of Material Sciences at the University of Missouri at Rolla. Dr. Bal is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, with over 100 scientific publications. In addition to guiding AMEDICA on the commercialization of its unique Silicon Nitride ceramic technologies, Bal will also recruit and lead AMEDICA's Adult Reconstructive and Spine Medical Advisory Boards. Dr. Bal received his M.D. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University, and is a licensed attorney who co-founded the Bal Brenner law firm in North Carolina.
George A. Singer, J.D.
Director
George A. Singer joined AMEDICA's Board of Directors June 2012.
George serves as manager and member of Singer Bros. LLC., which is engaged primarily in oil and gas exploration and production, banking, real estate and other investments. George also serves as the Chairman of the Board and co-CEO for Pedestal Oil Company. Pedestal Oil engages in oil and gas exploration and production and management operations. George sits as Director of Citizens Bank of Oklahoma, former Director, ONB Bank & Trust and Woodland Bank, Independent Petroleum Association of America (former chairman, Tax Committee), Member of Executive Committee, Cogent Partners, L.P, Manager and member, Apogee LLC., Member of Executive Committee, Desert Gas, former director of Merrill Lynch OK Venture Partners.
George Singer has his J.D degree from Harvard Law School, and a B.A from Yale College.
Jay M. Moyes, MBA
Director
Jay Moyes has over 30 years of management and leadership experience. Throughout his career, he has worked with numerous industry-leading companies through their transformation from emerging growth to established, publicly-traded companies. He has served as Chief Financial Officer at XDX, an emerging molecular diagnostics company, and prior to that he served in the same role at Myriad Genetics, a publicly traded, leading biotechnology company focused on molecular diagnostics and therapeutic development. Mr. Moyes has also served as Chief Financial Officer of Genmark, an agricultural biotechnology company, as well as a Senior Manager with the international public accounting firm of KPMG. He has been instrumental in the financial development and expansion of some of the medical industry’s most groundbreaking companies including Myriad Genetics, where he guided the company through its initial public offering.
Mr. Moyes currently sits on the Board of Directors with multiple biotechnology companies including Osiris Therapeutics Inc., Biocardia Inc., Integrated Diagnostics Inc., and Puma Biotechnology Inc. He formerly held a Board position with the Utah Life Science Industry Association. He holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Utah and received his undergraduate degree in economics from Weber State University.