Mesoblast board gets a Rose

Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) has appointed seasoned cardiovascular surgeon Dr Eric Rose to the regenerative medicine company’s board of directors.

Rose performed the first successful paediatric heart transplant in 1984, during his tenure as head of the Columbia Presbyterian Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital’s heart transplantation program.

He served in this role between 1982 to 1992. In 1994 he was named the centre’s chairman of the Department of Surgery and its surgeon of chief, and stayed in those roles until 2007.

Rose currently serves as chairman and CEO of vaccine and antiviral drug developer SIGA Technologies, EVP of Life Sciences at holding company MacAndrews & Forbes and chairman of left ventricular assist device developer Circulite.

Commenting on his appointment, Rose said he saw Mesoblast as a natural fit for his knowledge and experience.

“Mesoblast is clearly the leader in the most exciting medical field in the world today - regenerative medicine - with the potential to set new paradigms in medicine,” he said.

Mesoblast last month raised $170 million to help fund development of its mesenchymal precursor cell (MPC) adult stem cell platform, including phase III trials of spinal fusion treatment candidate NeoFuse.

CEO Professor Silviu Itescu last week received the inaugural Key Innovation Award from The Pontifical Council for Culture and The Stem for Life Foundation during an event in Vatican City.

Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) shares were trading 0.71% higher at $5.700 as of around 1.30pm on Wednesday.