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Denville, NJ – Katena Products, a leading global provider of precision ophthalmic instruments, biologics, and devices to hospitals, surgical centers, and ophthalmic and optometric offices announces the purchase of Blink Medical Ltd, a UK-based provider of primarily single use ophthalmic instruments.
Founded in 2004, Blink Medical currently distributes its products within Europe and the Middle East.
“The acquisition of Blink Medical strengthens and expands Katena’s offering in high quality ophthalmic instrumentation. Single use instruments are important to our strategy and the addition of Blink also offers Katena the benefits of a physical presence in Europe,” said Mark J. Fletcher, CEO of Katena Products.
Roger Tyler, Founder and Managing Director of Blink Medical, adds, “The synergies created in the ophthalmic sector, by offering multiple instrument solutions to our customers will help both companies achieve their business objectives.”
About Katena Products, Inc.
Katena is a recognized worldwide leader in specialty surgical and consumable ophthalmic and optometric products. Katena markets a comprehensive line of surgical instruments, biologics, medical devices and optical lenses to physician offices, hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers through their direct salesforce and to international customers in over 110 countries through an extensive distributor network. Katena continues to strengthen its position in these key markets through organic growth and merger and acquisition strategies. For additional information please visit Katena’s About Us page.
Katena Products, Inc. is owned by Audax Private Equity, a Boston-based private equity firm. Audax Private Equity is an integral part of Audax Group, an alternative asset management firm specializing in investments in middle market companies. With offices in Boston, New York, and Menlo Park, Audax Group has over $10 billion in assets under management across its Private Equity, Mezzanine, and Senior Debt businesses.
About Blink Medical Ltd.
Blink Medical Ltd. was founded in 2004 as a disposable instrument company in the ophthalmic surgical space. The company's product portfolio focuses on single use surgical instruments and has expanded to include product offerings across multiple specialties including dermatology, ENT, cosmetic and plastic surgery. Blink also provides standard and custom procedural packs within its Ophthalmic and General surgical specialties. All instruments and packs are QC inspected and packed in Blink’s own class 8 clean room. Supplying NHS hospitals, private hospital groups and independent clinics, Blink also exports to over 20 countries worldwide.
Steve Blazejewski is the President & CEO of Katena Products, Inc. With over 25 years in the global medical technology industry, Steve leads all critical strategic, financial, and operational performance initiatives for the company. Most recently, he was President of the $12 billion Medical Solutions global business unit at Cardinal Health. Prior to that, he was President of the $4.5 billion Patient Monitoring & Recovery global business at Medtronic and led the divestiture of the Patient Recovery business to Cardinal. From 2012-2015, Steve was President of Covidien’s $2 billion General Surgical Products global business prior to Medtronic’s acquisition, and has held a variety of sales, sales management, marketing, and general management roles. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
Bob Earley is the Chief Financial Officer at Katena. Most recently, Bob was CFO of Laborie Medical Technologies, a Toronto, Ontario based medical device manufacturer. Prior to Laborie, Bob was President and CFO for Bridgeport Tank Trucks, a Texas based oil field services company. Bob holds a B.S. in finance from The Ohio State University and an M.B.A. from Case Western Reserve.
Arun Mohan is the Vice President of Global Marketing at Katena. With over 12 years in the global medical technology industry, he leads all global marketing efforts focused on strategy, product management, customer programs, product development and professional education globally for the company. Prior to Katena, he was the Global Head of Product Marketing at Asensus Surgical in the abdominal surgical robotics space. Arun holds a B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Purdue University, and an M.B.A. from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.
Jack Simmons is the Vice President of Global Sales at Katena. With over 11 years of leading customer-centric commercial models and delivering above market growth in the global medical technology industry, Jack leads the direct selling, distributor partnership, commercial operations, and customer service activities globally for the company. Prior to Katena, Jack was the National Vice President, Commercial Services at WaveMark™ a Cardinal Health Company. Jack holds a B.S. and M.Ed. in business and marketing management from the University of Minnesota.
Roger Tyler is the Managing Director of Katena’s global single use instruments business, Blink Medical Ltd based in the UK. With over 30 years of commercial experience in the ophthalmic medical device industry, Roger founded Blink Medical 18 years ago as the world’s first stand-alone supplier of single use ophthalmic surgical instruments. He leads Katena’s global commercial and operational efforts for the company’s single use ophthalmic instruments portfolio as part of the Katena senior leadership team.
Julie Eigenrauch is the Director of Human Resources at Katena responsible for leading Katena’s overall HR strategy in alignment with Katena’s business goals. Julie oversees Katena’s approach to employee engagement, recruitment, compensation & total rewards programs, employee benefits, performance management, and proactive workforce planning. For the past 10+ years, Julie has served as a strategic and accountable HR leader, driving commercial and operational excellence initiatives at large and mid-sized healthcare companies. Julie holds a B.S. in Biochemistry from Cornell University.
Carolyn Zdenek is the Vice President of Operations at Katena. With over 20 years of operational leadership and experience in the global medical device and technology industry, Carolyn leads all supply chain management, manufacturing, and operations for the company globally. Prior to Katena, Carolyn was with Zimmer Biomet where she led the global Advanced Manufacturing Organization for the Orthopedic Division. Carolyn holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Rutgers University.
Bryan Weinmann is the Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs at Katena. With 30 plus years of Quality/Regulatory Compliance experience in the medical device industry, Bryan ensures Katena’s on-going successful regulatory compliance track record globally. Prior to Katena, Bryan was with Stryker’s Orthopedics Division (Osteonics) where he played an instrumental role in Stryker's achievement of ISO certification and CE mark authorization. Bryan holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Nauman Chughtai is the Vice President of Information Technology at Katena. With over 25 years of experience in infrastructure, enterprise systems, analytics, databases, and system engineering, Nauman leads all IT related systems and initiatives globally for the company. Prior to Katena, he was Director of IT Services at Verisk Analytics where he led the standardization of ITIL processes. Nauman holds a B.S. in computer engineering from University of Central Florida and an M.B.A. from Rutgers University.