AngioDynamics' Keltjens steps down as CEO

Albany, NY-based AngioDynamics is looking for a new CEO after Jan Keltjens resigned from the company. His resignation comes as the medical instruments maker reported flat sales for the fiscal year and lower Q4 net sales of approximately $56.4 million versus $60.3 million a year earlier.

Scott Solano, the devicemakers' senior VP and CTO, will serve in the interim until a new CEO is found. However, during the succession planning process, he indicated he didn't want to be considered for the full-time CEO position. Once the CEO selection process is complete, he will return to his position as CTO, according to a company statement.

Keltjens joined the company a little more than two years ago after serving as president and CEO of Montreal-based CryoCath Technologies, which was acquired by Medtronic for $380 million in November 2008. Keltjens had succeeded Eamonn Hobbs, who helped make AngioDynamics into a $200 million company, as the Albany Times Union notes.

"AngioDynamics can and will become one of the faster growing companies in the medical device industry," even though it underperformed in the recent fiscal year, said Chairman Vincent Bucci in a statement. "The [c]ompany's numerous strengths include a robust R&D pipeline being well managed by Scott Solano and the very promising NanoKnife System, which is generating impressive clinical data...Additionally, we have more than $130 million in cash, which can be invested in growth strategies."

Before joining AngioDynamics, Solano served as president and CEO of Arterial Vascular Engineering, a 6,000-person company focused on cardiovascular stents that was also acquired by Medtronic back in 1999 for $3.7 billion. He then worked at Medtronic for more than seven years, primarily in the interventional vascular business.

- get the AngioDynamics release
- check out the Albany Times Union story