AVS Appoints Sean Gilligan as Chief Operating Officer

30-year medical device veteran to lead AVS’ operational direction after long tenure with Boston Scientific

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AVS, an early-stage medical device company focused on safely and effectively treating severely calcified arterial disease with its PIVL™ therapy, announced the appointment of Sean Gilligan as the company’s new Chief Operating Officer. He brings 30 years of executive leadership experience to AVS and has spent the previous 15 years as Vice President of Program Management and R&D at Boston Scientific.

“Sean’s addition to the leadership team at AVS marks a significant milestone for our company,” said Mark Toland, Chairman of the Board of AVS. “He has spent the better part of three decades helping to launch and grow medical devices and has a long track record of success bringing new products to market, leading cross functional teams including R&D, operations and encouraging innovation. His appointment comes at a pivotal time for our organization following the recent completion of our POWER PAD I clinical trial.”

In his previous role as the Vice President of Program Management, Research and Development at Boston Scientific, Gilligan oversaw the expanded portfolio and acted as the direct leader of the project management team across multiple sites for the interventional cardiology portfolio, including coronary stents, WATCHMAN™ and the structural heart valves franchise. He led high growth and high opportunity product development and project execution in the $2-plus billion interventional cardiology business, where he was responsible for managing budgets over $100 million and enabling global launches for 510(k) and Class III premarket approval (PMA) products. From 1994 to 2008, Gilligan held other positions at Boston Scientific, including Director of Program Management, Research and Development, Coatings Process Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, Development Engineer and Senior Development Engineer.

“I’m honored to join the AVS leadership team as we work toward future regulatory milestones for the PULSE™ IVL System,” Gilligan said. “I am encouraged by the early clinical success of the AVS platform and the potential for this innovative therapy to increase access to high-level treatment in calcified arterial disease.”

Earlier this year, AVS announced a Series B financing round to accelerate clinical trial timelines for its device for peripheral application in pulsatile intravascular lithotripsy (PIVL) cases. The funding will also advance development and preclinical work on a PIVL device for coronary cases.

About AVS

AVS is an early-stage medical device company focused on safely and effectively treating severely calcified arterial disease. It was founded in 2018 by Hitinder Gurm, M.D., Interventional Cardiologist and Chief Clinical Officer at University of Michigan, and Robert Chisena, Ph.D., Chief Technical Officer at AVS. It is redefining interventional therapy for severely calcified lesions with the Pulse™ IVL System, which uses a novel pulsatile mechanism of action to shatter calcium and expand narrowed vessels, all with a single device. To learn more about pulsatile intravascular lithotripsy, visit www.avspulse.com.

The Pulse Peripheral Intravascular Lithotripsy (IVL) System is in development. It is not yet cleared for commercial distribution in any country. Its future availability cannot be guaranteed.