InspireMD Announces Appointment of Medical Technology Executive Pete Ligotti as Executive Vice President and General Manager of North America

Appointment brings more than 30 years of medical technology general management and commercial leadership experience to the InspireMD team

Reports inducement grant under NASDAQ listing rule 5635(c)(4)

TEL AVIV, Israel and MIAMI, Jan. 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InspireMD (Nasdaq: NSPR), developer of the CGuard™ Embolic Prevention Stent System (EPS) for the prevention of stroke, announced today the appointment of medical technology executive Pete Ligotti as Executive Vice President and General Manager of North America. Mr. Ligotti brings more than 30 years of general management and commercial leadership experience to the InspireMD team.

Marvin Slosman, Chief Executive Officer of InspireMD, stated, “As we continue to scale our U.S. infrastructure ahead of potential approval of the CGuard EPS carotid stent platform, we are very pleased to welcome Pete to the team. With encouraging data emerging from our ongoing C-GUARDIANS Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) pivotal trial, notably positive 30-day follow up data that was recently presented at VIVA23 in November, we believe CGuard EPS has the potential to become the leading stent platform among carotid implants, enabling a shift toward an endovascular standard of care. The addition of Pete brings a track record of operating and commercial experience globally to bolster our talent and senior leadership as we build our U.S. base of operations.”

Mr. Ligotti added, “Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to be able to contribute to the development, launch and growth of many groundbreaking medical technologies that drive improved patient outcomes, and I believe CGuard EPS, with its novel MicroNet^® technology, is poised to be a leader not just among stenting alternatives, but in the conversion of carotid surgery to a ‘stent first’ approach. I am excited to join InspireMD at this opportune time and look forward to working to build our U.S. presence and make this technology broadly available to carotid artery disease patients, if approved.”   

Mr. Ligotti joins InspireMD from NuVasive (merged with Globus Medical) where he served as Vice President and General Manager of NuVasive Specialized Orthopedics – NSO since January 2022. Before that, he served as Vice President of Global Commercial Strategy at Smith+Nephew, and, prior to that, in various roles of increasing responsibility at Integra LifeSciences, culminating with Senior Vice President and General Manager - Extremity Orthopedics. He began his career as Sales Manager at Clinical Neuro Systems (sold to Integra LifeSciences in December 1999). Mr. Ligotti earned his BA in Biology from Syracuse University, and a mini-MBA in Financial Essentials from Rutgers University.

Inducement Grant Under NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4)

In connection with the appointment of Mr. Ligotti as Executive Vice President and General Manager of North America, InspireMD has granted Mr. Ligotti 138,460 shares of restricted stock and stock options to purchase 46,150 shares of InspireMD’s common stock. The grant of restricted stock and stock options was approved by the Compensation Committee of InspireMD’s Board of Directors and was granted outside of InspireMD’s 2021 Equity Compensation Plan, with a grant date of January 2, 2024, as an inducement material to Mr. Ligotti entering into employment with InspireMD, in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

The restricted stock and stock options vest over three years, with one-third vesting on the first anniversary of the grant and the remainder vesting in two equal installments on the second and third anniversaries of the grant date, subject to Mr. Ligotti being continuously employed by InspireMD as of such vesting dates. The stock options have a ten-year term and an exercise price of $2.71, the closing sales price of InspireMD’s common stock on the grant date.

InspireMD is providing this information in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

About InspireMD, Inc.
InspireMD seeks to utilize its proprietary MicroNet^® technology to make its products the industry standard for carotid stenting by providing outstanding acute results and durable, stroke-free long-term outcomes. InspireMD’s common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol NSPR.

We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website. For more information, please visit www.inspiremd.com.

Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements.” Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding InspireMD or its management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. Such statements may be preceded by the words “intends,” “may,” “will,” “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “predicts,” “estimates,” “aims,” “believes,” “hopes,” “potential”, “scheduled” or similar words. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the C-GUARDIANS U.S. IDE clinical trial, including 30-day results from such trial, as well as the timing and outcome of any subsequent results, the EFS, PMA or potential launch. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, are based on certain assumptions and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company’s control, and cannot be predicted or quantified and consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with our history of recurring losses and negative cash flows from operating activities, significant future commitments and the uncertainty regarding the adequacy of our liquidity to pursue our complete business objectives, and substantial doubt regarding our ability to continue as a going concern; our need to raise additional capital to meet our business requirements in the future and such capital raising may be costly or difficult to obtain and could dilute out stockholders’ ownership interests; market acceptance of our products; an inability to secure and maintain regulatory approvals for the sale of our products; negative clinical trial results or lengthy product delays in key markets; our ability to maintain compliance with the Nasdaq listing standards; our ability to generate revenues from our products and obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for our products; our ability to adequately protect our intellectual property; our dependence on a single manufacturing facility and our ability to comply with stringent manufacturing quality standards and to increase production as necessary; the risk that the data collected from our current and planned clinical trials may not be sufficient to demonstrate that our technology is an attractive alternative to other procedures and products; intense competition in our industry, with competitors having substantially greater financial, technological, research and development, regulatory and clinical, manufacturing, marketing and sales, distribution and personnel resources than we do; entry of new competitors and products and potential technological obsolescence of our products; inability to carry out research, development and commercialization plans; loss of a key customer or supplier; technical problems with our research and products and potential product liability claims; product malfunctions; price increases for supplies and components; insufficient or inadequate reimbursement by governmental and other third-party payers for our products; our efforts to successfully obtain and maintain intellectual property protection covering our products, which may not be successful; adverse federal, state and local government regulation, in the United States, Europe or Israel and other foreign jurisdictions; the fact that we conduct business in multiple foreign jurisdictions, exposing us to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, logistical and communications challenges, burdens and costs of compliance with foreign laws and political and economic instability in each jurisdiction; the escalation of hostilities in Israel, which could impair our ability to manufacture our products; and current or future unfavorable economic and market conditions and adverse developments with respect to financial institutions and associated liquidity risk. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Investors and security holders are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Contacts:

Craig Shore
Chief Financial Officer
InspireMD, Inc.
888-776-6804
[email protected]

Chuck Padala, Managing Director
LifeSci Advisors
646-627-8390
[email protected]
[email protected]