MARLBOROUGH, Mass. (February 22, 2016)–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Verax Biomedical, Incorporated announced today that it has hired Paul D. Mintz, MD as a Senior Vice President and the company’s Chief Medical Officer.
“We are extremely pleased to have Dr. Mintz join our team”
In his new role Dr. Mintz will serve as the company’s clinical liaison to the blood banking and transfusion medicine community in the United States and abroad. He is expected to play a key role in defining and executing the company’s communication and educational efforts surrounding the use of the Verax Platelet PGD Test to improve platelet safety and availability. He will also be directly involved in defining new applications for the company’s platform PGD technology and its implementation.
“We are extremely pleased to have Dr. Mintz join our team,” said Jim Lousararian, Verax Chief Executive Officer. “His unique combination of knowledge, experience and leadership within the blood banking community, firmly grounded in the concepts of patient safety and best transfusion practices, perfectly matches our core values.”
Dr. Mintz has played a key role as an innovator, educator, and leader within the blood banking and transfusion medicine community throughout his distinguished career. He was a member of the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Medicine from 1979 until 2011, where he was a tenured Professor of Pathology and Internal Medicine. He also served as Vice-Chair of Pathology and Chief of the Division of Clinical Pathology and Medical Director of the Clinical Laboratories and Transfusion Medicine Services at the University of Virginia Health System. In addition, Dr. Mintz served as Co-Medical Director of Virginia Blood Services from 2008 until 2011.
Dr. Mintz is a former President of the American Association of Blood Banks(AABB), served on the AABB’s Board of Directors for nine years, and chaired and was a member of numerous AABB committees. He has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Blood Foundation. Most recently, Dr. Mintz served as Director, Division of Hematology Clinical Review, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research of the U. S. Food and Drug Administration.
“I’m both excited and gratified to be joining Verax at this critical moment in transfusion medicine,” said Dr. Mintz. “I feel I can help advance the dialog addressing the risk of bacterial contamination, the greatest infectious risk to the safety of the country’s blood supply.”
A recipient of a Transfusion Medicine Academic Award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Dr. Mintz was also an inaugural inductee into the National Blood Foundation Hall of Fame. He also served as a member of the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
He is also an author or co-author of over 100 articles and editorials spanning clinical practice, blood safety, and the evaluation of new transfusion medicine technologies. Dr. Mintz has designed and served as principal investigator for numerous clinical and device trials. He is the sole editor of all three editions of Transfusion Therapy: Clinical Principles and Practice (AABB Press) and has served on several journal editorial boards.
Verax is the producer of the Platelet PGD Test, the only test for bacterial contamination in platelets granted a Safety Measure claim by the FDA. The test can now also be used to extend the dating of apheresis platelets in plasma, the most common platelet type transfused in the U.S., from 5 to 7 days. This dating extension offers the opportunity for significant cost savings to the blood banking community while preserving a critical life giving resource. For more information, visit www.veraxbiomedical.com
Contacts
Verax Biomedical
Joe Sanders, 617-771-8199
Sr. VP Marketing and Business Development
JSanders@veraxbiomedical.com
The Company's first product is the Platelet PGD Test – a rapid test for the detection of bacterial contamination in platelets.