VIEWRAY CLEANS HOUSE IN SEARCH OF GROWTH, SHAREHOLDER VALUE
ViewRay Inc., the Oakwood Village-based maker of an MRI-guided radiation therapy system called MRIdian, has named medical device industry veterans Scott Drake as president and CEO, and Shar Matin as COO, effective immediately.
Both men had been executives at Spectranetics Corp., a developer and manufacturer of minimally invasive cardiovascular devices, which in August 2017 was acquired for $2.2 billion by Royal Philips. Drake also was named to the ViewRay board of directors, as was D. Keith Grossman, a medical technology industry executive who previously served as CEO of Thoratec Corp.
Out at ViewRay as of July 22 are Chris A. Raanes, who had been president and CEO since February 2013, and Doug Keare, who was COO since April 2015.
Daniel Moore, chairman of the ViewRay board said in a statement that Drake, the former president and CEO at Spectranetics, and Matin, that company’s former COO, have “deep operational experience with fast-growing medical companies (that) will be invaluable as we bring ViewRay’s revolutionary technology to the fight against cancer for patients around the world.”
Drake acknowledged that his job at ViewRay was to drive growth and innovation and create shareholder value.”
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, ViewRay said it had entered into employment agreements with Drake and Matin that took effect on Sunday, July 22. Drake “will receive a base salary of $700,000, and will be eligible to receive a target performance bonus equal to 100% of his base salary, with a threshold of 50% and maximum of 200% of his base salary,” according to the filing. ViewRay also granted Drake an option to purchase 1.925 million shares of the company’s common stock and 1.115 million restricted stock units.
Matin will receive a base salary of $425,000 and will be eligible to receive a target performance bonus equal to 75% of his base salary, with a threshold of 37.5% and maximum of 150% of his base salary. The company also granted him an option to purchase 962,500 shares of common stock and 577,500 restricted stock units.
Both Raanes (for a year) and Keare (for six months) will provide consulting and advisory services to ViewRay. Raanes will receive, among the other benefits provided for in the agreement, cash payments equal to $630,944 and reimbursement for continued medical insurance coverage pursuant to COBRA for 12 months. Keare will receive cash payments equal to $286,966 and reimbursement for medical benefits. Raanes and Keare each will continue to vest in the shares of the company’s common stock underlying their stock options.
In a press release, ViewRay announced preliminary unaudited revenue of about $16 million for the second quarter ended June 30, primarily from three revenue units, and reaffirmed full-year 2018 revenue guidance of $80 million to $90 million.
On May 10 ViewRay reported total revenue for the first quarter ended March 31 was $26.2 million, compared with revenue of $1.2 million for the like period of 2017. Revenue for the 2018 first quarter included four new MRIdian system installations and one system upgrade, all recognized as product revenue.
The company’s net loss for the 2018 first quarter was $7.5 million, or 11 cents per share, compared with a loss of $28 million, or 54 cents per share, for the first quarter of 2017. VTN