Cala Health Expands Leadership Team to Fuel Growth and Continued Innovation

New Chief Commercial Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and VPs to reach more people living with tremor and expand into other indications

Cala Health celebrates the grand opening of new office in San Mateo, Calif. (Photo: Business Wire)

SAN MATEO, Calif.--()--Cala Health, the bioelectronic medicine leader setting a new standard of patient care for chronic disease, has expanded its commercial executive leadership to accelerate growth and fuel continued innovations. Industry leaders joining the team will build out Cala’s product platform and support the company’s goal of further expanding affordable access for patients with tremor. The caliber of talent – with executives hailing from iRhythm, Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Google, and more – reinforces Cala’s leadership in pioneering bioelectronic medicine to provide new therapies to help more patients living with chronic disease.

Cala also announced a new, larger headquarters in San Mateo – a LEED-certified building that will support the company's rapid growth. Cala designed a flexible workspace to be true to its unique values of bold innovation and collaboration as well as a high functioning manufacturing and fulfillment center.

New hires include:

- Doug Biehn, Chief Commercial Officer: Doug previously served as the Executive Vice President of Marketing responsible for leading the growth strategy for iRhythm Technologies, one of the fastest-growing digital health companies. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer of AliveCor, Inc., a pioneer in AI-enabled ECG detection ranked by Fast Company as one of the most innovative healthcare companies in 2017, and Chief Marketing Officer at Blue Shield of California, where he helped achieve the fastest growing Blue Plan nationwide. Doug is a Board Advisor for a number of early-stage digital health companies as well as volunteers as a Mentor for the Stanford Graduate School of Business Lean Launchpad program.

- Tim Gallagher, Chief Financial Officer: Tim has over 20 years of experience working at companies that produce physical products, including Amazon's hardware division, Lab126, and Google. Most recently, he was the CFO at a London-based hardware startup producing electronic keyboards. He started in contract manufacturing specializing in supply chain and operations and has over eight years of international experience in various European countries.

- Jeron Evans, Vice President, Sales: Jeron joins Cala Health after previously serving as Vice President and Global Head of the Psoriasis Franchise at UCB BioPharma, where he was responsible for building and leading the US dermatology business including sales, marketing, and medical teams. He then went on to lead a global commercial team managing a portfolio of dermatology assets. Prior to UCB, Jeron served as Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at Dermira, Inc., a fully integrated specialty pharmaceutical company. Jeron was the first commercial employee at Dermira and worked across all commercial functions, which was later acquired by Lilly in a transaction greater than $1B.

- Deanna Harshbarger, Vice President, Product and Medical Affairs: Deanna spent the last 18 years in the global medical device industry, leading upstream, downstream, and clinical marketing teams in various positions at Medtronic, Boston Scientific, and Johnson & Johnson. She focused on building innovative portfolios and new franchises, launching new solutions across the globe, and growing businesses organically and through acquisition. Prior to her career in healthcare and business, Deanna spent time as a researcher and engineer in various industries.

- Bernard Shay, General Counsel: Bernard is a senior medical device attorney with prior experience at GE, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Miramar Labs, and Earlens Corporation. He joined Cala Health as General Counsel.

“I’m excited to be part of such an innovative and patient-centric company that is freeing people from the burden of chronic disease, especially during this period of accelerated growth,” said Doug Biehn, Chief Commercial Officer. “Cala’s team is dedicated to building a world-class commercial organization that makes it easier for patients to access the life-changing Cala therapy and helps physicians and neurology practices raise the standard of care on how they treat essential tremor.”

“As CFO, my priority will be to focus commercial resources to maximize sales and marketing productivity, and ultimately build a predictable, repeatable, and scalable go-to-market model to establish Cala as the new standard of care,” said Tim Gallagher, Chief Financial Officer.

The company has nearly doubled its headcount since commercializing Cala transcutaneous afferent patterned stimulation (TAPS) therapy in September 2019. Cala Health is the recipient of the Gold Stevie® award for the Most Innovative Company of the Year – More Than 10 Employees, and CEO Renee Ryan was recently named one of this year's Top 25 Women Leaders in Medical Devices of 2022 by The Healthcare Technology Report.

About Cala

Cala is a bioelectronic medicine company transforming the standard of care for chronic disease. The company’s wearable neuromodulation therapies merge innovations in neuroscience and technology to deliver individualized peripheral nerve stimulation, and its vertically integrated commercial model is reshaping the delivery of prescription therapies. Cala’s lead product, Cala Trio which delivers TAPS therapy, is the only non-invasive prescription therapy for essential tremor. New therapies are under development in Parkinson’s disease and other indications in neurology, as well as targets in psychiatry, cardiology, and autoimmune disorders. The company is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area and backed by leading investors in both healthcare and technology.

Indication: Cala Trio therapy is indicated to aid in the temporary relief of hand tremors in the treated hand following stimulation in adults with essential tremor.

Caution: Federal law restricts this device to sale by or on the order of a physician.

Prior to use, refer to the product labeling for complete product instructions for use, contraindications, warnings, and precautions at https://calatrio.com/Safety.

Contacts

Sydney Sonneville
815.307.6511
calahealth@highwirepr.com

Contacts

Sydney Sonneville
815.307.6511
calahealth@highwirepr.com