Zimmer Biomet's spine spinoff, NewCO, will be led by Vafa Jamali, a former Medtronic executive with more than 25 years of experience in the medical device industry.
Eight things to know:
1. At Medtronic, Mr. Jamali served as senior vice president and president of respiratory, gastrointestinal and informatics. He was responsible for the strategic direction, research and development, global execution and leadership of the business, which posted $3 billion in annual revenue and included 10,000 employees and 14 manufacturing sites.
2. Prior to that, he was senior vice president and president of early technologies, which is a collection of early-stage companies focused on creating new standards of care to provide superior outcomes for diseases and conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, lung and liver.
3. His experience in the medtech industry spans gastroenterology, minimally invasive surgery, respiratory, pharmacy automation, infusion systems and medical device distribution.
4. Most recently, he served as chief commercial officer and led strategic planning for Rockley Photonics, an integrated optics solutions provider.
5. Mr. Jamali also held executive leadership roles at Baxter, Cardinal Health and Covidien, before Medtronic acquired Covidien in a $42.9 billion deal.
6. He completed several executive leadership programs, including the Harvard Executive Leadership Program in 2020.
7. Mr. Jamali serves on the board of directors for precision manufacturing company Eptam Plastics and Baylis Medical, a developer of cardiology devices.
8. He was born in Tehran, Iran, and grew up in Canada. He received his Bachelor of Commerce degree with distinction from the University of Alberta in Edmonton.