ElectroCore plays musical execs before commercializing migraine treatment

ElectroCore is doing some shuffling. Frank Amato has been bumped up to the CEO position after having served as chief operating officer for the Merck-backed med tech company.

The company--which offers non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) therapy--is in the midst of a Board-approved reorganization that is supposed “position the company for its next phase of growth,” ElectroCore explained in the announcement.

Amato has been COO at ElectroCore since he joined the company in 2012. He has worked on commercial elements in pharmaceuticals previously, including being the U.S. VP of specialty commercial operations at Merck. He has also held positions at Schering-Plough, Ligand Pharmaceutical and Pfizer.

Former CEO JP Errico, founder and board member, will become the chief science and strategy officer at ElectroCore and will work on developing nVNS to move into other therapeutic areas. Errico founded ElectroCore in 2005, and can boast about several successful ventures such as co-founding K2 Medical and Spine Core. The announcement noted that products Errico has patented, developed and commercialized account for over $12 billion in sales to date.

ElectroCore has plans to commercialize its gammaCore nVNS therapy for the treatment of cluster headache and migraine. These moves are part of an effort to continue the development of nVNS to treat other central nervous system disorders.

GammaCore therapy already has a CE mark and is being commercialized in Europe thanks to a partnership with Desitin, a CNS-focused pharma company.

While ElectroCore has regulatory approvals for gammaCore in treating cluster headaches and migraines in the EU, the FDA is still reviewing the treatment before approving it in the U.S.

- here's the release

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