Thanks for that puzzled. I couldn’t quite catch the name during...

Thanks for that puzzled. I couldn’t quite catch the name during the Call but I’ve listened again and Dr. Joe Amarol does seem to be correct.

As can be seen from the linked page you provided, Dr. Joe Amarol is another highly experienced ex-J & J executive.

He worked for J & J from 2019 - 2019 where he held various positions such as VP Surgical Technologies, VP Corporate Science and Technology, CSO Ethicon Endosurgery and VP Innovation, Ethicon.

Further, as can be seen in the linked page

From 2000 to 2007, Dr. Amaral was President and CEO of Rhode Island Hospital (RIH) and its pediatric division Hasbro Children’s Hospital leading an over $60 million turnaround. Prior to that, Dr. Amaral was Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Brown University School of Medicine, Chief of Surgery at Rhode Island Hospital and President of University Surgical Associates.

He is Professor of Surgery (Emeritus) at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University, member of 25 professional societies, author of 100+ papers and book chapters and has delivered over 500 national and international presentations. He has performed approximately 3,000 laparoscopic procedures, trained hundreds of practicing surgeons in these techniques and is internationally recognized as a pioneer in minimally invasive surgery, in the development and commercialization of new technologies, and in energy based technologies, most notably the Harmonic Scalpel which he co-developed.

Swami referred to Dr. Amarol's “illustrious history” and said the Company is privileged to have him on board. He said that as well as being involved in various conversations with FDA and BARDA, Dr. Amarol is “also helping to shape our clinical and medical affairs strategy so that we are able to continue expanding the Novosorb platform, not just as a product portfolio, but as a professional education portfolio”.

Given his surgical background, years at J & J’s Ethicon subsidiary (surgical sutures, wound close devices, hernia mesh), and authorship of papers and book chapters on hernia repair, Dr. Amarol would seem especially well qualified to guide PolyNovo’s hernia products through their remaining development to successful commercialization.

An update was provided on the hernia program in the latest report

The current focus is developing surgical mesh products for hernia repair and plastic reconstructive surgery (PRS). A range of NovoSorb monofilaments have been successfully developed and used to create woven surgical mesh prototypes that will meet regulatory and clinical requirements for hernia repair, and match or exceed the product profile of current market‑leading resorbable mesh products. The unique attributes of the NovoSorb polymer will differentiate our woven surgical mesh products and constructs from other resorbable polymer‑based products on the market. A range of surgical mesh product prototypes are in development with differing biomechanical properties (strength, pliability, stretch) to address distinct market segments, including simple hernia repair, ventral hernia, abdominal wall reconstruction, and post-mastectomy tissue reinforcement.

Implantable product prototypes are being evaluated in preclinical models.

In this week's Earnings Call, Swami mentioned that PNV’s hernia mesh prototypes have already been shared with surgeons to gain their valuable input and also said that PNV is looking to compare the its hernia product/s with the market category leader.

In the battle between synthetics and biologics, synthetics have recently become dominant in the hernia market, driven by increased preference by doctors and patients and lower price.

A 2022 comparative study of 2-year hernia recurrence risk found

Synthetic mesh demonstrated superior 2-year hernia recurrence risk compared with biologic mesh in patients undergoing single-stage repair of contaminated ventral hernias, and both meshes demonstrated similar safety profiles. The price of biologic mesh was over 200 times that of synthetic mesh for these outcomes.

As multiple synthetic absorbable hernia mesh products are already available, PNV’s hernia mesh will need to demonstrate compelling differentiating attributes and surgeons will need education in its use if PolyNovo is to succeed in having impact in this market.

Dr. Joe Amarol would seem to be the ideal person to assist.