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About Vericel

Advanced therapies for sports medicine and severe burn care

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Vision

Vericel is committed to improving the lives of patients with serious conditions by developing and manufacturing innovative cell therapies and specialty biologics.

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Mission

Vericel is passionately committed to meeting significant patient and healthcare provider needs by providing potentially life-enhancing cell therapies to patients with serious medical conditions.

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Values

Vericel believes in encouraging each employee to exceed the expectations of the patients we serve, their healthcare providers, and the shareholders who support our efforts.


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Executive Leadership Team

Dominick Colangelo

Dominick Colangelo

President & CEO

Nick Colangelo joined Vericel in 2013 with more than twenty years of executive management and corporate development experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including nearly a decade with Eli Lilly and Company. During his career, he has held a variety of executive positions of increasing responsibility in product development, pharmaceutical operations, sales and marketing, and corporate development. Mr. Colangelo has extensive experience in the acquisition, development, and commercialization of products across a variety of therapeutic areas. During his tenure at Eli Lilly and Company, he held positions as Director of Strategy and Business Development for Lilly’s Diabetes Product Group and also served as a founding Managing Director of Lilly Ventures. Mr. Colangelo received his B.S.B.A. in Accounting, Magna Cum Laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a J.D. degree, with Honors, from the Duke University School of Law.

Joe Mara

Joe Mara

Chief Financial Officer

Joe joined Vericel in 2021 with more than 20 years of financial, strategic and operational experience, including more than 14 years of experience in the biotech industry. Prior to joining Vericel, Joe most recently served as Vice President, Finance and Head of Investor Relations at Biogen Inc. While at Biogen, Joe held several finance leadership roles, including Vice President, Global Financial Planning and Analysis and Strategic Corporate Finance and Vice President, U.S. Finance and Operations. Joe worked across the entire Biogen organization, in roles of increasing responsibility within Finance across R&D, Corporate Finance, Corporate Strategy and Commercial operations, supporting company strategy, business development and several commercial launches. Prior to joining Biogen, Joe held finance and strategy roles in the financial services and technology industries, including at Thomson Reuters Corporation and Fidelity Investments. Joe earned a B.A. degree in Economics and International Studies from Northwestern University and an M.B.A. from the Sloan School of Management at M.I.T.

Mike Halpin

Mike Halpin

Chief Operating Officer

Mike joined Vericel in April of 2017 with over 28 years of regulatory, quality assurance, and clinical research experience with a variety of medical device, combination product, small molecule, biologic, and advanced therapy technologies. Prior to joining Vericel, Mike was with Sanofi and Genzyme Corporation; most recently as vice president, North American region regulatory head with responsibility for Sanofi Genzyme’s rare disease, immuno-inflammatory, multiple sclerosis and other business unit products. Mike has also served as vice president, regulatory affairs for Genzyme’s biosurgery division, with regulatory oversight of all biosurgery and cell and gene therapy products, including Carticel®, Epicel®, and MACI®. Prior to Genzyme, Mike held a number of regulatory, quality, and clinical affairs positions at several medical device companies, including Abbott/MediSense, C.R. Bard, and Abiomed. Mike received his master’s degree in biomedical engineering and bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Virginia.

Dr. Jonathan Hopper, MB ChB

Dr. Jonathan Hopper, MB ChB

Chief Medical Officer

Jon Hopper is a seasoned industry executive with previous experience as a surgeon and government regulator. He qualified in medicine in the UK in 1987 and trained as an Orthopaedic and Trauma surgeon, gaining additional clinical experience in Accident and Emergency, Sports Medicine and Trauma Intensive Care. Jon became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1992. In 1997, he joined the UK’s Senior Civil Service as a senior medical officer at the UK’s Department of Health, regulating medical device manufacturers and advising senior government officials and Ministers of State. Jon attained the degree MBA (Health Executive) from the University of Keele 2003. In 2006, Jon joined the medical device industry and moved to the USA in 2009. He has held various Global Medical Affairs and Clinical Development Executive roles for ConvaTec, Stryker, Osiris Therapeutics and Ferring Pharmaceuticals. Jon joined Vericel in August 2018 and leads the Clinical Development, Pharmacovigilance and Medical Affairs functions.

Roland DeAngelis

Roland DeAngelis

Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations

Roland has over 20 years of experience with Vericel’s brands, having joined the company in 2014 by virtue of the acquisition of Sanofi-Genzyme’s cell therapy and regenerative medicine business unit. During his Vericel tenure, Roland has held roles in sales and marketing leadership. He led the commercial team responsible for the successful launch of MACI® in the U.S. as well as the growth of Epicel® and the burn care franchise. While with Sanofi-Genzyme, Roland held a variety of commercial roles including product development, sales training, product and key account management, advocacy development and global marketing. Prior to Sanofi-Genzyme, Roland held positions as group product manager for the knee arthroscopy and reconstruction product line with Smith & Nephew Endoscopy and as product design engineer with Acufex Microsurgical. In his early career, he was a systems engineer in the defense industry with Hughes Aircraft and other defense contractors. Roland holds a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics from the University of Rhode Island.

Heidi Hassen

Heidi Hassen

Senior Vice President, Human Resources

Heidi joined Vericel in September of 2010 and is responsible for leading the overall administration and strategic direction of Vericel’s Human Resources function. Heidi has held HR leadership positions for over 25 years across several industries, including computer storage technology, industrial computer manufacturing, and biotechnology.  Prior to joining Vericel she was employed by Cayman Chemical, where she was responsible for the company’s global Human Resources operations and served as a fiduciary of the Cayman Chemical Retirement Savings Plan.  Prior to Cayman Chemical she led the HR organization for Xycom Automation (Pro-face America), a manufacturer of industrial PCs. She received a B.A. in Employment Relations, College of Social Science, from Michigan State University.

Sean Flynn

Sean Flynn

Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Sean joined Vericel in 2019, having served as corporate and litigation counsel for nearly 20 years in both the public and private sectors.  Prior to joining Vericel, Sean held the position of Vice President and General Counsel of Verastem, Inc. where he was responsible for all legal matters and supported the launch and commercialization of Copiktra®.  Sean also served as Associate General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for ABIOMED, Inc. during a period of rapid revenue and market growth.  In that capacity, Sean handled a wide variety of business and legal matters for the organization, while maintaining responsibility for the compliance readiness of the company on a global scale.  Prior to joining ABIOMED, Sean served for seven years as a federal prosecutor with the Offices of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California and the Eastern District of New York.  Sean began his legal career as a litigator with Bingham McCutchen LLP, after clerking for the Honorable Ruggero J. Aldisert, Senior Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  Prior to beginning his legal career, Sean served as an Air Defense Artillery Officer in the United States Army, having graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1995.

Patrick Fowler

Patrick Fowler

Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy

Patrick joined Vericel in 2021 with over 15 years of business development, strategy and operations experience in the biotechnology and medical technology industries and an established history of guiding corporate and business unit strategies across a variety of therapeutic area franchises.  Prior to joining Vericel, Patrick served as Head, North America Strategy, Operations & New Product Development for Sanofi, formerly Genzyme Corporation, where he led the business development, lifecycle management and go-to market strategy efforts for General Medicines and Established Products.  During his tenure at Sanofi, Patrick also served as Head, North America Business Development, Specialty Care as well as Head of Biosurgery Business Development & Portfolio Strategy.  Previously, Patrick served in a number of corporate development roles at Genzyme.  Patrick earned a B.S., cum laude, in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology from the University of Minnesota and an M.B.A. from the University of Toronto. 

Extended Leadership Team

Eric Burns

Eric Burns

Vice President, Finance & Investor Relations

Eric joined Vericel in 2017 and has more than 15 years of financial and operational experience at leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Eric established the FP&A function at Vericel, he oversees Investor Relations and is also responsible for long range planning and business development modeling. Prior to joining Vericel, Eric served as Principal Finance Programs Manager at Parexel and led Business and Strategic Sales Planning at Fresenius Medical Care. He also held roles of increasing responsibility during his tenures at Novartis and BAE Systems Inc. Eric earned a B.S. in Finance from Bentley University and his M.B.A. from Boston University.

Caryn Cramer

Caryn Cramer

Vice President, Clinical Affairs & Epidemiology

Caryn joined Vericel in 2011 and is responsible for Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, and Clinical Programming and Data Management, in addition to overseeing all scientific communications and responses to FDA product-related clinical queries. Prior to joining Vericel, Caryn served as Director, Transplant & Oncology Scientific Reporting at Genzyme where she worked primarily on Phase 3 orphan drug submissions, Agency responses, and managed a medical writing group.  During her nine-year tenure at Pfizer, she was a Director within the Regulatory Submissions group and managed colleagues as well as contributed authorship to NDAs, MAAs, Agency responses and worked on multiple drug development teams. Throughout her career, Caryn has worked on numerous projects in the field of Epidemiology including a study on dementia and statins with the University of Michigan, registry studies, an Agency response for the analysis of the association of antidepressants with suicidality in pediatric patients, and multiple Orphan Drug applications. Caryn holds a PhD in Epidemiology and a M.S. in Environmental Studies/Toxicology from the University of Michigan.

Cindy Entstrasser

Cindy Entstrasser

Vice President, Quality

Cindy joined Vericel in 2014 and has more than 25 years of quality and compliance experience supporting GMP manufacture of autologous cell culture products. She is responsible for the oversight of quality operations which includes quality control, quality assurance and validation. Prior to joining Vericel, Cindy spent 18 years at Sanofi-Genzyme where she held positions of increasing responsibility within the quality organization. Prior to Sanofi-Genzyme, she served in finance and quality roles across a variety of industries. Cindy earned a B.S. in Finance from DeSales University.

Mike Gilligan

Mike Gilligan

Vice President, MACI Sales

Mike joined Vericel in 2022 with more than 15 years of sales experience, most recently serving as U.S. Vice President of Sales, Biologics and Commercial Initiatives at Smith & Nephew. During his seven-year tenure, he held positions of increasing responsibility across Commercial Operations, including sales, account management, market development and marketing. Prior to Smith & Nephew, Mike held sales leadership and marketing roles at Stryker. He began his career as a pharmaceutical sales rep at Pfizer. Mike has a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire and his M.B.A. from Babson College.

Patrick Helfrich

Patrick Helfrich

Vice President, Marketing & Commercial Strategy

Patrick joined Vericel in 2023 with more than 30 years of experience at leading medical technology companies. He most recently served as Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at Biorez (now ConMed). Prior to joining Biorez, Patrick served as Vice President of Global Marketing at CAS Medical Systems (now Edwards Lifesciences). In addition, during his nearly two-decade tenure at Covidien (now Medtronic) he held roles of increasing responsibility on several U.S. regional and global marketing teams, and in sales, business development, M&A, market research, and finance. Patrick holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Saint Anselm College and received his M.B.A. from Northeastern University.

Shannon Kelly

Shannon Kelly

Vice President, Burn Care National Sales

Shannon joined Vericel in 2022 with more than 25 years of commercial sales, marketing, and market access experience at leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies. She most recently served as Vice President of U.S. Sales at Pacira Biosciences where she led the development, management, expansion, and execution of the national sales team. Prior to Pacira, Shannon was part of the commercial launch team at Flexion Therapeutics and the autoimmune rare disease division at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, where she held leadership positions across sales and market access. During her 13-year tenure at Johnson & Johnson, Shannon held roles of increasing responsibility across sales and marketing. She holds a B.S. in Biology from East Stroudsburg University.

Doug Kennedy

Doug Kennedy

Senior Vice President, Operations

Doug joined Vericel in 2022 with more than 20 years of experience in biopharmaceutical operations, manufacturing, plant start-up and technology transfer. He most recently served as a consultant at Kennedy Bio-Pharma Consulting LLC. and as Vice President & Site Head for Arranta Bio. Prior to Arranta, Doug spent more than 20 years at Sanofi-Genzyme where he held positions of increasing responsibility within the manufacturing, supply chain, engineering, and industrial performance functions, culminating as General Manager and Site Head for Sanofi’s Northborough Operations. Doug has a B.S. in Social Science from Westfield State College and is pursuing a M.S. in Management from Harvard University Extension School.

Adrian Lowe

Adrian Lowe

Vice President, Manufacturing

Adrian joined Vericel in 2015 and has more than 25 years of manufacturing and operational experience, and is responsible for oversight of manufacturing operations, including cell therapy manufacturing and customer care. Prior to joining Vericel, Adrian spent 10 years at Repligen Corporation where he oversaw all manufacturing operations, materials management, product engineering, construction, and facilities maintenance. He also served as Director of Vaccine Production at the University of Massachusetts Biologics Laboratories and began his career as a Senior Scientist II (Process Development) at AVANT Immunotherapeutics. Adrian completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. He holds a B.Sc. in Pharmacy from Aston University and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Bath.

Jon Siegal

Jon Siegal

Vice President & Corporate Controller

Jon joined Vericel in 2021 with more than 20 years of accounting and financial leadership experience. He most recently served as Global Controller for Lantheus Medical Imaging, where he led the company’s accounting function and served as a leader across the financial organization. Prior to Lantheus, Jon served in various accounting and controllership roles of increasing responsibility across a variety of industries. Jon is a C.P.A. and earned a B.A. in Accounting and Economics from Gordon College.

Board of Directors

Robert L. Zerbe, M.D.

Robert L. Zerbe, M.D.

Chairman since October 2012
Director since January 2006

Dr. Robert Zerbe joined the Vericel Board of Directors in January 2006 and has been its Chairman since October 2012.  Until July 2016, Dr. Zerbe served as the Chief Executive Officer of QUATRx Pharmaceuticals Company, a venture?backed drug development company, which he co?founded in 2000. Prior to his role at QUATRx, Dr. Zerbe held several senior executive management positions with major pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly and Company and Pfizer. During his tenure at Eli Lilly, Dr. Zerbe’s clinical research and development positions included Managing Director, Lilly Research Center U.K., and Vice President of Clinical Investigation and Regulatory Affairs.  He joined Parke?Davis in 1993, becoming Senior Vice President of Worldwide Clinical Research and Development.  In this capacity, Dr. Zerbe led the clinical development programs for a number of key products, including Lipitor® and Neurontin®.  Dr. Zerbe received his M.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine and he has completed post?doctoral work in internal medicine, endocrinology and neuroendocrinology at Indiana University and the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Zerbe serves on the boards of directors of Metabolic Solutions Development Company and Cirius Therapeutics, both private companies focusing on metabolic diseases.

Alan L. Rubino

Alan L. Rubino

Director since September 2005

Alan Rubino has been a member of the Vericel Board of Directors since 2005. Previously, he served seven years as Chief Executive Officer and President of Emisphere Technologies, Inc., a successful publicly held drug-delivery company, which was acquired by Novo Nordisk. He also served as CEO and co-founder of New American Therapeutics, Inc., which acquired Denavir from Novartis.  New American was subsequently sold to Renaissance Pharma, LLC. Prior to that, he was CEO and a co-founder of Akrimax Pharmaceuticals, LLC, where he in-licensed Tirosint from IBSA Institut Biochimique SA for the US market. The major portion of Mr. Rubino’s career was his 24 years with Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. (now Genentech), where he was a senior executive officer and member of the U.S. executive committee. During his Roche tenure, Mr. Rubino held a series of executive leadership positions in marketing, sales, business operations, supply chain and human resources management. He presided over several high-profile product launches and co-led the globalization of the pharmaceuticals business in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group.  He also played an integral role in the Roche acquisitions of Syntex Laboratories and Boehringer-Mannheim.  He received his B.A. in economics from Rutgers University with a minor in biology and completed post-graduate educational programs at the University of Lausanne and Harvard Business School. He has served on numerous public and private biopharma and medical technology company boards and is currently chairman of the board of directors of AMO Pharm Limited, a UK-based company developing therapies for rare genetic disorders including congenital myotonic dystrophy.

Heidi Hagen

Heidi Hagen

Director since August 2013

Heidi Hagen has been a member of the Vericel Board of Directors since 2013. Ms. Hagen has extensive experience in operations management and commercializing innovative technologies, including more than 20 years in the cell and gene therapy industries. Ms. Hagen is the former Chief Technical Officer of Sonoma Biotherapeutics, a privately-held company leading the development of adoptive TREG cell therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Additionally, and between 2019 and 2021, she sat on the board of directors of Ziopharm Oncology, Inc., a publicly-traded company developing immune-oncology gene and cell therapies. She also served as Ziopharm’s interim CEO during 2021. Ms. Hagen is the co-founder and former Chief Strategy Officer of Vineti, Inc., a software platform company for cell and gene therapy supply chain management. Formerly, Ms. Hagen served as Global Chief Operating Officer at Sotio LLC, a biotechnology company developing new therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases using its immunotherapy platform and proprietary cell-based technologies, and as SVP of Operations for Dendreon Corporation. She began her career at Immunex Corporation where she held positions in drug development, supply chain and operations. Ms. Hagen also serves on the board of directors of A-Alpha Bio, a privately-held organization focused on developing synthetic biotechnology and machine learning to accelerate drug development. Ms. Hagen has a B.S. in cell and molecular biology, an M.S. in bioengineering, and an M.B.A. at the University of Washington.

Steven Gilman, Ph.D.

Steven Gilman, Ph.D.

Director since January 2015

Dr. Steven Gilman has been a member of the Vericel Board of Directors since 2015.  Dr. Gilman served as the Chairman of the board of directors and Chief Executive Officer of ContraFect Corporation until his retirement in April 2019.  He previously served as Executive Vice President, Research & Development and Chief Scientific Officer at Cubist Pharmaceuticals from September 2010 until its acquisition by Merck & Co., in January 2015.  Prior to joining Cubist, Dr. Gilman served as Chairman of the board of directors and Chief Executive Officer of ActivBiotics, Inc., a privately-held biopharmaceutical company.  Dr. Gilman worked at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he held a number of senior leadership roles, including Vice President and General Manager, Inflammation.  Prior to Millennium, he was Group Director at Pfizer Global Research and Development and has also held scientific, business, and academic appointments at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cytogen Corporation, Temple Medical School, and Connecticut College.  Dr. Gilman currently serves on the boards of directors of ContraFect Corporation, SCYNEXIS, Inc., and Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., and previously served on the board of directors of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  He has also served on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Association and held advisory roles on the Penn State University biotechnology board and the Northeastern University drug discovery board. Dr. Gilman earned a B.A. in microbiology from Miami University of Ohio and Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in microbiology from Pennsylvania State University.  He is an author of over 60 publications and seven U.S. patents.

Kevin McLaughlin

Kevin McLaughlin

Director since January 2015

Kevin McLaughlin has been a member of the Vericel Board of Directors and has served as the chair of its Audit Committee since 2015. Between 2010 and 2021, Mr. McLaughlin served as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Acceleron Pharma Inc. prior to its acquisition by Merck & Co., Inc. in December 2021.  Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Qteros, Inc., a cellulosic biofuels company.  He was also a Co-founder of Aptius Education, Inc., a publishing services company, and from 2007 through 2009, served as the Chief Operating Officer and a director.  From 1996 through 2007, Mr. McLaughlin held several executive positions with PRAECIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  He joined PRAECIS as their first Chief Financial Officer where he had responsibility for private financings, partnership financings and the company’s initial public offering.  Later, Mr. McLaughlin became Chief Operating Officer, and then President and Chief Executive Officer, while serving as a member of the board of directors.  In this capacity, he was responsible for negotiating the sale of the company to GlaxoSmithKline.  He began his career in senior financial roles at Prime Computer and Computervision Corporation.  Mr. McLaughlin is also a member of the board of directors and Chairman of the audit committee of Stealth Biotherapeutics Corp.  Mr. McLaughlin received a B.S. in business from Northeastern University and an MBA from Babson College.

Paul Wotton, Ph.D.

Paul Wotton, Ph.D.

Director since January 2015

Dr. Paul Wotton is Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc. – a position he has held since April 2019.  Previously, Dr. Wotton was the founding President and Chief Executive Officer of Sigilon Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held cell therapeutics company, which began in May 2016.  Prior to that, Dr. Wotton served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Ocata Therapeutics, Inc. until its acquisition by Astellas Pharma US, Inc. in February 2016.  Prior to Ocata, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the board of directors of Antares Pharma, Inc., as Chief Executive Officer of Topigen Pharmaceuticals, and as the Global Head of Business Development of SkyePharma PLC.  Earlier in his career, Dr. Wotton held senior level positions at Eurand International BV, Penwest Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Laboratories and Merck, Sharp and Dohme.  Dr. Wotton serves as Chairman of the board of directors of Cynata Therapeutics Limited and, previously, was a member of the board of directors and Chairman of the compensation committee of Veloxis Pharmaceuticals A/S, until its acquisition by Asahi Kasei in January 2020.  He is also past Chairman of the Emerging Companies Advisory Board of BIOTEC Canada.  In 2014, Dr. Wotton was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Life Sciences, New Jersey.  Dr. Wotton received his Bachelor’s in Pharmacy, with honors, from University College London, his Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Nottingham, and his MBA from Kingston Business School.

Lisa Wright

Lisa Wright

Director since June 2021

Lisa Wright is President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Health Choice, Inc., a position she has held since May 2020. Community Health Choice is a local, non-profit, Managed Care Organization (MCO) offering Children’s Medicaid (STAR), CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Plan) and DSNP (Dual Special Needs Plan), and is a participant in the Health Insurance Marketplace. Ms. Wright oversees all aspects of the company located in Houston, Texas. From 2018 to 2020, Ms. Wright served as President, North Region Medicare, for WellCare Health Plans, Inc., where she was responsible for directing and leading the execution of business strategies for a billion dollar plus region that included New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Kentucky, North Carolina, and New Hampshire.  Prior to WellCare, Ms. Wright held several positions at UnitedHealthcare, most recently as President of the Dual Special Needs Plan, Medicare-Medicaid Plan and Nursing Facilities lines of business in Texas.  Ms. Wright currently serves on the boards of directors of several non-profit organizations.  Ms. Wright received a B.A. in Communication from the University of Kentucky and a M.B.A. from the University of Maryland.

Dominick Colangelo

Dominick Colangelo

President & CEO

Nick Colangelo joined Vericel in 2013 with more than twenty years of executive management and corporate development experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including nearly a decade with Eli Lilly and Company. During his career, he has held a variety of executive positions of increasing responsibility in product development, pharmaceutical operations, sales and marketing, and corporate development. Mr. Colangelo has extensive experience in the acquisition, development, and commercialization of products across a variety of therapeutic areas. During his tenure at Eli Lilly and Company, he held positions as Director of Strategy and Business Development for Lilly’s Diabetes Product Group and also served as a founding Managing Director of Lilly Ventures. Mr. Colangelo received his B.S.B.A. in Accounting, Magna Cum Laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a J.D. degree, with Honors, from the Duke University School of Law.

A history of transformation through restoration

1987

First cell therapy

Epicel®, the 1st autologous cell therapy, is introduced by BioSurface Technologies for the treatment of patients with deep dermal or full thickness burns.

1995

Transformative medicine

Genzyme, a pioneer in the development and delivery of transformative therapies for patients affected by rare and debilitating diseases acquires BioSurface Technologies and renames the company: Genzyme Tissue Repair.

1995

First for orthopedics

Carticel®, the first autologous cell therapy for the treatment of cartilage lesions in the knee is commercialized in Europe by Genzyme Tissue Repair.

1997

Restorative treatment

Carticel receives the first BLA for a cell therapy, ushering in an entirely new mode of treatment for orthopedic injuries.

1998

Streamlined delivery

MACI®, a cellular therapy similar to Carticel but delivered on a collagen membrane, is first performed in Germany.

2004

Global presence

Genzyme acquires Verigen of Germany, the developer of MACI, along with global rights to the product, securing its commitment to next generation cellular repair therapies for cartilage defects.

2011

Biologics in the spotlight

Sanofi, a top five global pharmaceutical company, acquires Genzyme in a deal worth 20 billion US dollars.

2013

First in Europe

MACI becomes the first tissue-engineered Advanced Therapy and Medicinal product approved by the European Medicines Agency.

2014

A move toward the future

Vericel, a longtime leader in adult stem cell therapies and personalized medicine acquires global rights to Carticel, Epicel and MACI making it a worldwide leader in cellular therapies.

2016

First in USA

The FDA approves MACI, the first product utilizing tissue engineering to grow cells on scaffolds using healthy cartilage from the patient’s own knee.

Tomorrow

A commitment to innovation

Vericel is proud of our pioneering role in helping to develop the cellular therapy category. Vericel will continue to innovate and deliver on the promise of treatment derived from a patient’s own regenerative cells.

Partnering with Vericel

Vericel Corporation is dedicated to the development of advanced therapies for the treatment of patients with severe diseases and conditions. Vericel currently markets two advanced cell therapy products in the United States. MACI® (autologous cultured chondrocytes on porcine collagen membrane) is a third-generation autologous chondrocyte implant for the treatment of cartilage defects in the knee. Epicel® (cultured epidermal autografts) is a permanent skin replacement for full thickness burns greater than or equal to 30% of total body surface area. Vericel also holds an exclusive license for North American commercial rights to NexoBrid®, a biological orphan product approved for eschar removal of severe thermal burns. At this time Vericel is seeking partners to commercialize MACI and Epicel outside of the United States and Vericel is looking to acquire, co-develop or in-license products which leverage either the company’s existing sports medicine and burn care commercial capabilities, or the company’s proven cell therapy development, manufacturing and commercialization capabilities.

For more information about partnering with Vericel

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NASDAQ: VCEL

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