Iridex Co-Founder and CEO Steps Down, Becomes CTO

Iridex Corp. has named Dominik Beck president and CEO of the company. He replaces Theodore A. Boutacoff, a co-founder of Iridex who will become CTO. Beck will also replace Boutacoff on the company’s board of directors.

Iridex supplies laser-based medical systems and delivery devices.

As CTO, Boutacoff will manage R&D and will be focused on the commercial development of the company’s innovative MicroPulse technology, a laser delivery modality that promises to be more effective for ocular treatments with fewer collateral effects than conventional laser treatments and potentially greater durability than that of competing drug therapies.

Beck, 47, has spent the majority of his career in leadership and management roles at innovative and growing global health care companies focused on eye care and ophthalmic devices. Most recently, he was president and COO of Haag-Streit U.S. Holdings, a US subsidiary of Switzerland-based Haag-Streit International, a global maker of diagnostic equipment in eye care.

Beck noted that the company is poised to progress to the next level by driving innovation aimed at diagnosing and treating patients with diabetic- and age-related eye diseases.

“We have a number of innovative new products moving toward the marketplace. My focus is to make Iridex a leading provider of products for the treatment of glaucoma and retinal diseases, such as proliferative diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema and age-related macular degeneration.

“The combination of diagnostic technologies with our tissue-sparing MicroPulse technology has the potential to shift the paradigm for retinal and other ophthalmic surgeries and transform today’s invasive procedures to fully noninvasive procedures. Our goal is to create a better and more efficient experience for physicians, enhancing long-term visual outcomes and increasing quality of life for patients, which should result in substantial growth in the business and shareholder value.”

Prior to working for Haag-Streit, Beck was CEO of the Zurich-based ODC (Ophthalmic Development Company). Previously, he was also COO of the medical division of Schlieren, Switzerland-based Volpi AG.

Beck has a doctoral degree in biomedical optics from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Informatics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. He also earned a masters degree in mechanical engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

For more information, visit: www.iridex.com