DIGNITANA AB NAMES TOP TECH ENGINEER JOHAN ERICSSON AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND EXPANDS U.S. LEADERSHIP TEAM

William Cronin to Serve as Chief Executive Officer of Dignitana Inc. in the United States

Dallas-Based Dignitana Inc. Adds James McKinney as COO, Melissa Bourestom as VP Marketing,
and Registered Nurse Josephine Divers as VP Clinical Oncology Services

Files for download
Dignitana Release - wkr0006.pdf

Lund, Sweden and Dallas, TX – November 8, 2016—Nearing the one-year anniversary of FDA clearance for its DigniCap® system, Dignitana AB, a world leader in medical scalp cooling technology, announced today the appointments of Johan Ericsson as Chief Executive Officer and William Cronin as Chief Executive Officer of Dignitana, Inc. in United States.

After shepherding the DigniCap® system through its inaugural year of growth in the United States, current CEO Jan Richardsson will now hand over the reins to a development and operational CEO.

Johan Ericsson brings more than 25 years of global engineering and product development experience to Dignitana, holding leadership positions at Flex Design (formerly Flextronics), Sony Ericsson, Assa Abloy, CellaVision, and Axis Communications. He has initiated, implemented, and launched product platforms across a variety of health and technology sectors, including radar and infrared systems, mechanics, electronics, optics and software/firmware. Ericsson’s experience also includes guiding products through FDA approval and clearance and introducing supply chain and scalability innovations in addition to developing quality competence measures at all points along the product development continuum.

“Under Jan Richardsson’s leadership, we have built relationships in the U.S. and around the world, that have allowed Dignitana to successfully enter the U.S. market and quickly expand following FDA clearance of the DigniCap® system. We thank him for his invaluable contributions to the company. As Johan takes the helm, emphasis will shift slightly to technological refinements aimed at ensuring an even more precise and effective patient experience that can be used with more treatments and drug combinations.” says Semmy Rülf, chairman of the board at Dignitana AB.

“I see this appointment as a great opportunity to bring my experience to a successful company and to move it to the next level of product development and operations. Together with the strong U.S. organization I am confident that we will grow both the business and the company.” says Johan Ericsson.

Newly appointed CEO of Dignitana’s American operations, Bill Cronin, led the business through the final stages of FDA clearance in December of 2015 and brought the DigniCap® scalp cooling system to more than 35 medical centers across 16 U.S. states in its first year of production.

“We are excited to expand the number of treatment centers across the US that are making the DigniCap® system available to their patients. Dignitana now has the proper infrastructure in place, both in the US and in Sweden, to fully execute on our plan of making this valuable therapy option available to as many patients across the US as possible,” says William Cronin.

As leadership in Sweden focuses on advancing the next phase of innovation, design and production of the medical device, patient experience measures will be top priority in the United States. James McKinney has stepped in as Chief Operating Officer, Melissa Bourestom has taken on the role of Vice President of Marketing and Josephine Divers, R.N., rounds out the U.S. executive team as Vice President of Clinical Oncology Services for Dignitana Inc in Dallas. These new hires will allow the company to build brand recognition, and support patients and clinical staff as the device expands to more medical centers nationwide.

As COO of Dignitana, Inc., James McKinney brings extensive experience and a proven track record in leadership and operations including physician relations and partnership, program design and implementation, financial performance and system integration. Recent leadership roles include Division CEO of Anesthesia for EmCare, Division President of Iasis, President and COO of Leland Medical, and President and CEO of Brim Healthcare. He also serves as a healthcare consultant to Catholic Charities.

Prior to joining Dignitana as Vice President of Marketing, Melissa Bourestom led strategic partnership efforts as Executive Director of the American Advertising Federation Dallas and previously directed marketing and sales initiatives for myFootpath, an education technology start-up focused on integrating product usage with e-business objectives. She brings to the Dignitana team a passion for science and healthcare and more than 20 years’ experience in marketing, communications, event planning and sales with expertise in achieving sales and marketing objectives and building strong customer relationships via traditional marketing, social media and digital strategies.

As the newly appointed Vice President of Clinical Oncology Services, Josephine Divers brings extensive clinical oncology nursing experience to j the Dignitana team with experience. She is a licensed registered nurse with 25 years’ experience in professional and collaborative patient care. Divers spent 20 years dedicated to oncology nursing with a specialization in breast cancer for the past 15 years. Prior to joining Dignitana, Divers served as a Registered Clinical Oncology Nurse for seven years at Baylor/Sammons Cancer Center, an institution of U.S Oncology. Divers possesses the educational background, clinical experience, and genuine enthusiasm for effective and efficient breast cancer treatment as part of a larger, interdisciplinary health care team. Her research and clinical trial experience includes published literature in Cancer Medicine, Journal of Oncology Nursing, as well as various findings presented at National Oncology Nursing Conference.

“As awareness and demand for the product continue to grow, we are thrilled to be able to add these talented and experienced healthcare professionals to our team. Our commitment to support our patients and partner treatment sites has made the addition of a specialized leadership team essential. We are excited to introduce expanded distribution and training channels led by James McKinney, targeted marketing efforts headed up by Melissa Bourestom, and clinical experience in breast oncology led by Josie Divers,” says William Cronin.

“Providing personalized clinical expertise and guidance for patients throughout their breast cancer experience is an unwavering commitment for the Dignitana leadership team,” Cronin adds. “We are thrilled to have Jim, Melissa and Josie on board, and look forward to expanding operations, brand awareness and patient support in the coming year. I am confident that our shared passion and expertise will strengthen our patient-centered mission.”

Media Contacts:

USA                                                                                 Sweden                                                            

Caren Browning                                                             Semmy Rülf                           

King + Company                                                             Chairman of the board, Dignitana AB

00 1 212 561-7464                                                        0046 (0)709 312730

Caren.Browning@kingcompr.com                               semmy.rulf@gmail.com

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The information in this press release is such that Dignitana AB must disclose it in accordance with the EU market abuse regulation. The information was submitted, by the above contact, for publication at 9.00 (CET), November 8, 2016.



About Dignitana
Dignitana AB is a Swedish public company, based in Lund, and manufacturer of the medical cooling device DigniCap®. Dignitana AB is listed on the OMX Nasdaq First North stock exchange and has appointed Erik Penser Bank as Certified Advisor. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Dignitana, Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of Dignitana AB. For more information visit www.dignitana.com

 About the scalp cooling system DigniCap®
Dignitana’s core product - DigniCap® - is a patented scalp-cooling system that offers cancer patients the ability to keep their hair during chemotherapy. DigniCap® is developed to provide continuous cooling with high efficacy, safety and acceptable patient comfort.