Leadership
Ron Bache
Chief Executive Officer
Ron Bache is the President and CEO of Bache, Inc. and an Operating Partner with Invus Opportunities. Bache was previously the President and CEO of AqueSys, Inc., a venture capital backed startup. AqueSys developed the XEN Gel Stent, the world’s first minimally invasive ab-interno surgical procedure for the leading cause of irreversible blindness, glaucoma. Bache joined AqueSys in 2009 while it was within a technology incubator and had just begun first in man trials. During his seven years as CEO, Ron spun the company out of the incubator, hired a full global team, raised $77 million in capital, patented multiple inventions, successfully executed an FDA clinical trial, obtained FDA clearance, obtained CE mark, created a CAT III code and obtained coverage from Medicare and private payers, and successfully commercialized globally. AqueSys was acquired by Allergan in 2015 for $300 million upfront plus milestones and Bache became a strategic advisor to Allergan for the next two years.
Prior to joining AqueSys, Ron was a Global Vice President at Advanced Medical Optics, the spinout of Allergan Surgical, and is now Johnson & Johnson Vision. Bache had marketing responsibility for the global refractive surgery business which included excimer lasers, custom wavefront guided and standard LASIK procedures, femtosecond lasers, wavefront abberrometers, multifocal intraocular lenses, phakic intraocular lenses, corneal inlays, and mechanical microkeratomes. During his tenure, AMO became the world’s #1 refractive surgery company through approximately $2 billion in acquisitions, partnerships, and internal R&D. Prior to AMO, Bache held commercial positions at Kraft General Foods, Johnson & Johnson (IOLAB Pharmaceuticals), Novartis (CIBA Ophthalmics), and Allergan Surgical.
Prior to joining AqueSys, Ron was a Global Vice President at Advanced Medical Optics, the spinout of Allergan Surgical, and is now Johnson & Johnson Vision. Bache had marketing responsibility for the global refractive surgery business which included excimer lasers, custom wavefront guided and standard LASIK procedures, femtosecond lasers, wavefront abberrometers, multifocal intraocular lenses, phakic intraocular lenses, corneal inlays, and mechanical microkeratomes. During his tenure, AMO became the world’s #1 refractive surgery company through approximately $2 billion in acquisitions, partnerships, and internal R&D. Prior to AMO, Bache held commercial positions at Kraft General Foods, Johnson & Johnson (IOLAB Pharmaceuticals), Novartis (CIBA Ophthalmics), and Allergan Surgical.
Tim Fischell, MD, FACC, MSCAI, FNAI
Chief Medical Officer
A practicing interventional cardiologist, prolific inventor and entrepreneur, Dr. Tim Fischell is currently Professor of Medicine at Michigan State and Medical Director of the Borgess Heart Institute Department of Cardiovascular Research and the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program. An inventor and co-inventor on over 70 patented devices, he co-designed the stent upon which the J&J drug-eluting stent platform is based. Co-founder of several biomedical start-up companies (Angel Medical Systems, Svelte, Ostial Solutions, etc.), his honors include the Thorax Center Andreas Gruentzig Award for Inventor of the Year in 1997. Dr. Fischell has presented over 200 papers and authored more than 110 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 20 book chapters.
Kristine Canavan
VP, Regulatory and Quality
Kristine Canavan is an experienced regulatory and quality professional with a wealth of medical device and combination product experience. A BS degree in biomedical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with an MPH in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from Boston University, she has over 25 years of industry experience including several executive positions in regulatory, quality and clinical. She has actively managed products to market from early-stage product development efforts through the regulatory submissions and post-market activities. Kristine has held with Medtronic, Covidien and DePuy, in addition to several successful start-up companies.
Missy Broich
VP, Clinical Affairs
Missy Broich is an experienced clinical research professional with 20 years of experience in the Medical Device, Pharmaceutical and Biospecimen Industry. She began her career as a clinical research associate later advancing to director positions with companies such as National Marrow Donor Program, St. Jude Medical and several start-up companies. Missy received a BA degree in both Biology and Psychology from Coe College of Iowa. She has also held the CCRA distinction since 2010.
Board of Directors
Ron Bache
CEO, Ablative Solutions
Ron Bache is the President and CEO of Bache, Inc. and an Operating Partner with Invus Opportunities. Bache was previously the President and CEO of AqueSys, Inc., a venture capital backed startup. AqueSys developed the XEN Gel Stent, the world’s first minimally invasive ab-interno surgical procedure for the leading cause of irreversible blindness, glaucoma. Bache joined AqueSys in 2009 while it was within a technology incubator and had just begun first in man trials. During his seven years as CEO, Ron spun the company out of the incubator, hired a full global team, raised $77 million in capital, patented multiple inventions, successfully executed an FDA clinical trial, obtained FDA clearance, obtained CE mark, created a CAT III code and obtained coverage from Medicare and private payers, and successfully commercialized globally. AqueSys was acquired by Allergan in 2015 for $300 million upfront plus milestones and Bache became a strategic advisor to Allergan for the next two years.
Prior to joining AqueSys, Ron was a Global Vice President at Advanced Medical Optics, the spinout of Allergan Surgical, and is now Johnson & Johnson Vision. Bache had marketing responsibility for the global refractive surgery business which included excimer lasers, custom wavefront guided and standard LASIK procedures, femtosecond lasers, wavefront abberrometers, multifocal intraocular lenses, phakic intraocular lenses, corneal inlays, and mechanical microkeratomes. During his tenure, AMO became the world’s #1 refractive surgery company through approximately $2 billion in acquisitions, partnerships, and internal R&D. Prior to AMO, Bache held commercial positions at Kraft General Foods, Johnson & Johnson (IOLAB Pharmaceuticals), Novartis (CIBA Ophthalmics), and Allergan Surgical.
Bache earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and has completed executive education programs at Stanford and Harvard Business School.
Prior to joining AqueSys, Ron was a Global Vice President at Advanced Medical Optics, the spinout of Allergan Surgical, and is now Johnson & Johnson Vision. Bache had marketing responsibility for the global refractive surgery business which included excimer lasers, custom wavefront guided and standard LASIK procedures, femtosecond lasers, wavefront abberrometers, multifocal intraocular lenses, phakic intraocular lenses, corneal inlays, and mechanical microkeratomes. During his tenure, AMO became the world’s #1 refractive surgery company through approximately $2 billion in acquisitions, partnerships, and internal R&D. Prior to AMO, Bache held commercial positions at Kraft General Foods, Johnson & Johnson (IOLAB Pharmaceuticals), Novartis (CIBA Ophthalmics), and Allergan Surgical.
Bache earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and has completed executive education programs at Stanford and Harvard Business School.
Geoff Pardo
Partner, Gilde Healthcare
Chairman of the Board
Geoff Pardo joined Gilde Healthcare Partners in 2011 as a Partner, and has led investments in Inari Medical, Axonics Modulation Technologies (NASDAQ:AXNX), CVRx, Ablative Solutions, Inc., Inova Labs (sold to Resmed, Inc.), BionX (sold to Ottobock) and Vapotherm (NYSE: VAPO). He is currently a member of the Board of Directors at Inari, Axonics, Ablative Solutions, CVRx and Vapotherm.
Geoff also served as President & CEO of Facet Solutions, a spinal implant company focused on treating lumbar spinal stenosis until the company was sold to Globus Medical in 2011. Mr. Pardo began his career in medical devices as a product manager with Synthes USA (now J&J Depuy Synthes). Geoff has a B.A. from Brown University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business.
Geoff also served as President & CEO of Facet Solutions, a spinal implant company focused on treating lumbar spinal stenosis until the company was sold to Globus Medical in 2011. Mr. Pardo began his career in medical devices as a product manager with Synthes USA (now J&J Depuy Synthes). Geoff has a B.A. from Brown University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business.
John Kerschen
President and Managing Partner, Charter Capital Partners
John Kerschen has more than 30 years of financial experience in commercial banking, merger and acquisition advisory, and private capital investment. Since joining Charter Capital Partners in 1996, he has been responsible for more than 200 acquisition transactions with aggregate value of more than $2 billion. These transactions include diverse industries, such as manufacturing of metal parts, plastics, electronics, and medical products, as well as construction services, energy services, business services, and various distribution industries. John’s significant banking and financial background combined with his strong transaction management skills have been instrumental to Charter’s success over the years.
John is general partner and actively manages various investment funds including Charter Growth Capital Fund, a mezzanine debt and minority equity fund, Michigan Accelerator Fund I, an early stage VC fund as well as multiple other private equity investment entities. He is a current board member for Keystone Solutions, RimGuard, Ablative Solutions and Hastings Mutual Insurance Company and a board observer for Trice Medical and Swift Biosciences. John is a past board member for Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing, Intervention Insights, the Michigan Medical Device Accelerator and the national board for the Association for Corporate Growth.
John has attained FINRA securities registrations including the Series 79, 62, 63 and 65, and earned the Certified Valuation Analyst designation from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts. He has a BA from Michigan State University and an MBA from DePaul University.
John is general partner and actively manages various investment funds including Charter Growth Capital Fund, a mezzanine debt and minority equity fund, Michigan Accelerator Fund I, an early stage VC fund as well as multiple other private equity investment entities. He is a current board member for Keystone Solutions, RimGuard, Ablative Solutions and Hastings Mutual Insurance Company and a board observer for Trice Medical and Swift Biosciences. John is a past board member for Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing, Intervention Insights, the Michigan Medical Device Accelerator and the national board for the Association for Corporate Growth.
John has attained FINRA securities registrations including the Series 79, 62, 63 and 65, and earned the Certified Valuation Analyst designation from the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts. He has a BA from Michigan State University and an MBA from DePaul University.
Louis Cannon, MD, FACA, FACC, FACP, FSCAI
Founder and Senior Managing Director, BioStar Capital and BioStar Ventures
Dr. Cannon is a past Judah Folkman Scholar in Residence and the Founder of BioStar Capital and BioStar Ventures now investing in Fund V. He is the past Founder and President of the Cardiac and Vascular Research Center of Northern Michigan and he has received recognition as one of “Americas Top Cardiologists” multiple years by the Consumers Research Council of America. He has served on the National Scientific or Medical Advisory Board or Speakers Bureau for Medtronic, Abbott, Boston Scientific, and Edwards Life Sciences, as well as other pharmaceutical or medical device companies from time to time. He is an innovator with patents previously licensed in the medical device field and has served on the BOD of Corindus Vascular Robotics (CVRS: NYSE ), CardioVascular Ingenuity, SETAGON, Amplitude Vascular Systems and REVA Medical. He has lectured and performed live cases throughout the word at the Montreal Heart Institute, Singapore, Japan and Paraguay where he performed one of the first trans -catheter aortic valve replacements in the world and later sold the BioStar company (AortX) to Hansen Medical. He is the co-moderator of the Shark Tank for medical devices sponsored by the CRF (The Columbia Research Foundation) and was the Founder and President of the Cardiac and Vascular Research Center in Northen Michigan.
Ben Tsai
Partner, Invus Opportunities
Ben is a partner at Invus Opportunities, a New York based investment firm that currently manages over $1.5 billion of capital. Ben joined Invus Opportunities in 2008 when the firm spun off from sister firm The Invus Group, an equity investment firm founded in 1985 with over $8 billion of evergreen capital. Ben leads investments by Invus Opportunities in growing private companies and works in close partnership with market-leading management teams and investors to create lasting value. Ben has served on the Board of Directors of numerous companies, both in the healthcare sector as well as in other industries. Prior to joining Invus Opportunities, Ben was a management consultant at the Monitor Group.
Ben received a B.S. in business administration from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Ben received a B.S. in business administration from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
We are proud to work with some of the most committed innovators in the industry.
Scientific Advisory Board (Global)
David E. Kandzari, MD
Director, Interventional Cardiology and Chief Scientific Officer, Piedmont Heart Institute, Atlanta, Georgia
Michael Weber, MD, FACP, FACC, FAHA
Professor of Medicine at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, Brooklyn, NY
Prof. Dr. med. Alexandre Persu
Head of the Hypertension Clinic Cardiology Department. Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc Université, Brussels, Belgium
Prof. Dr. med. Felix Mahfoud
Chairman, Department of Cardiology, University Hospital of Basel Cardiology at the Faculty of Medicine Petersplatz Basel, Switzerland
Prof. Atul Pathak
Head of Cardiology, Centre Hospitalier Princesse Grace Monaco
Prof. Dr. med. Roland E. Schmieder
Head of the Clinical Research Center (CRC), University Hospital Erlangen, Germany