VIVOLTA Strengthens Leadership Team With New CEO and New Chairman to Drive Next Phase of Growth

VIVOLTA, a leading global player in the contract development and manufacturing of electrospun medical products, is pleased to announce key appointments to its leadership team as part of its commitment to driving innovation and continued growth.

New CEO to Lead Strategic Initiatives:

Denis Leissing has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), taking over from Ramon Solberg, who held the position ad interim since 2022. Mr. Leissing brings decades of international experience in the medical device and contract manufacturing sectors, with a proven track record of successfully leading organizations through transformative, high-growth phases. In his previous role as CEO of Mediliant, a Swiss medical device manufacturing organization serving the world’s largest medical device brands, Mr. Leissing demonstrated a keen understanding of the global medical device industry and trends, while effectively leading the company to fulfill its vision – one similar to VIVOLTA's aim to be the trusted partner in contract development and manufacturing of electrospun medical products. Mr. Leissing holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from ECAM Lyon, and an executive Master of business administration from HEC Paris.

Mr. Solberg, founder of the company, will continue to lead VIVOLTA’s technology initiatives as Chief Technology Officer.

Non-Executive Chairman of the Board Appointment:

VIVOLTA has also appointed Rudy Mareel as the new Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, succeeding Fennemiek Gommer in this role. Mr. Mareel is a seasoned executive in the healthcare industry, bringing a wealth of expertise and experience to his new role at VIVOLTA. With a distinguished career in senior leadership roles in both Europe and the US, along with an in-depth understanding of the global healthcare market, he led Polyganics, a Dutch regenerative medicine company, to a successful acquisition by Regenity Biosciences (formerly Collagen Matrix) last year. With his extensive experience serving on both Executive and Non-Executive boards to various healthcare companies, he will play a pivotal role in guiding VIVOLTA’s Board of Directors and supporting the company’s strategic initiatives. He takes on the role from Ms. Gommer who held the position of Chairman since 2021, guiding the transition of VIVOLTA from an electrospinning equipment supplier (formerly known as IME Medical Electrospinning) into a contract development and manufacturing organization.

These leadership changes come at a pivotal moment for VIVOLTA, following the recent successful funding round of €7 million supported by existing shareholders TIIN Capital, 819 Capital Partners (formerly Lumana Invest), Borski Fund, and Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij, as well as the Dutch government’s NXTGEN HIGHTECH growth fund. The funds are being used to further advance VIVOLTA’s plans to transform its clients’ development projects into fully scalable commercial products over the coming years.

Denis Lessing, CEO designate, said:

“VIVOLTA is a truly global leader in the medical electrospinning sector, and it is an honor to be appointed as CEO. I am grateful to be taking over from Ramon, who has transformed VIVOLTA into its current very strong position and completed an impressive funding round to support the next stage of the Company’s development. I am committed to driving VIVOLTA’s strategy onwards, transforming our clients’ development projects into fully scalable commercial products over the coming years.”

Ramon Solberg, outgoing CEO, said:

"With Denis leading the way and Rudy's continuing support, I have complete confidence that VIVOLTA is not only poised to thrive but also to establish new, remarkable milestones in the fields of medical electrospinning and medical device development and manufacturing. I'm excited about the opportunity to devote all my focus and attention again to supporting and guiding our technological innovation, with a particular emphasis on application development and advancing the next generation of our electrospinning technology."

-Ends-

Notes to Editors

About VIVOLTA:

VIVOLTA is a world leader in the development and manufacturing of electrospun medical products. Utilizing its proprietary, fully automated MediSpin™ production platform, VIVOLTA supports its clients in realizing electrospun medical solutions that guide the body to heal itself. VIVOLTA’s medical electrospinning solutions are applicable to a broad array of high-value therapeutic areas with unmet clinical need, such as cardiovascular implants, soft tissue repair, orthopaedic sports medicine, and drug delivery.

The Company, formerly IME Medical Electrospinning, is a pioneer and global leader in the electrospinning sector, having contributed significantly to the first ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) standard for fiber-based medical scaffolds (F3519-21), published in 2021.

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