Christopher Barry to succeed Gregory Lucier as NuVasive CEO  

NuVasive announced Friday the appointment of J. Christopher Barry as chief executive officer, succeeding Gregory T. Lucier, effective November 5. Lucier, who was appointed CEO in 2015 and who will continue to serve as chairman of the board, remarked that Barry "has successfully led teams globally, managed complex R&D programmes, driven commercial initiatives and executed strategic acquisitions." Lucier added that "I have every confidence in [Barry's] ability to take NuVasive to its next level of growth." Company shares fell as much as 9.1 percent on the news.

Barry currently serves as senior vice president and president of Medtronic's surgical innovations unit, while having previously held commercial and leadership roles at Covidien. Don Rosenberg, lead independent director of NuVasive's board, noted that "we were impressed with [Barry's] expertise in the medical device industry, and feel his strong reputation as a skilled and strategic operator, along with his innate passion and business know-how, will enable him to continue NuVasive's transformation of spine surgery, adding tremendous value as he leads NuVasive into the future."

 

NuVasive also announced Friday that it has promoted Matt Link, who currently serves as executive vice president of the strategy, technology and corporate development business, to the position of president.

 

Meanwhile, Needham analyst Mike Matson believes that as NuVasive did not reiterate its financial guidance for 2018 in the announcement, the company's third-quarter results, which are due on October 30, could fall short of analyst views, and NuVasive could also lower its full-year outlook. However, he added that "while this could clearly occur, with NuVasive shares now down significantly today, we think they are sufficiently de-risked and we are buyers on the weakness."