Bioheart, Inc. (Bioheart) has elected Karl Groth to the company as board of directors. Groth is a co-founder of the Ascent Medical Technology Fund and also president and chief executive officer of Ascent Private Equity. Groth has over 30 years experience in the health care industry, ten of which were with Medtronic Inc. The company has appointed Peggy Farley to serve the company as a chairman of the audit committee. Peggy Farley is also a co-founder of the Ascent Medical Technology Funds.
Groth also published over 30 peer-reviewed articles in professional journals. Groth received his B.S. from the State University of New York in Biology, his M.S. from New York University and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.
Peggy Farley has an excellent record of returns in the equity management arena and is instrumental in the IPO markets. As co-chairman of the Ascent Group, she has overseen rapid growth companies that have been productively harvested and has established the investment banking services of the Group to aid companies in every phase of development. Peggy Farley begins her investment banking career at Morgan Stanley, where she was a member of the international group in the investment banking division. She led a strategic planning task force that was critical to the firm’s international positioning in the early eighties, and then worked with sovereign governments, focusing on the People’s Republic of China as it emerged from isolation. She has been chief executive officer of SEC registered investment advisory firms and an SEC and NASD registered broker dealer. Peggy Farley holds an M.A. with High Honors from Columbia University and an A.B. from Barnard College.
“Bioheart is well-positioned as a leader in the field of cellular therapy for treating heart failure, which is why our fund previously made a sizeable investment in the company,” said Groth. “I believe the strategic direction of the company in generating near-term revenues from its commercially approved heart monitoring technologies and to utilize profits from these sales to support research is brilliant in this environment of tough capital markets.”
“Dr. Groth will be a valuable asset to Bioheart as we move forward to complete our clinical trials and move forward with our transition into becoming a commercial company,” said Howard J. Leonhardt, chairman and chief executive officer of Bioheart.