STAAR Surgical Strengthens Leadership Team with Appointments of Nancy Sabin as Chief Marketing Officer and Nathaniel Sisitsky as General Counsel

By: STAAR Surgical Company via Business Wire

May 01, 2024 at 07:00 AM EDT

New Appointments Underscore Commitment to Driving Innovation and Industry-Leading Growth

STAAR Surgical Company (NASDAQ: STAA), a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of the EVO family of Implantable Collamer® Lenses (EVO ICL™) for myopia, astigmatism and presbyopia, today announced Nancy Sabin has been named Chief Marketing Officer and Nathaniel Sisitsky has been named General Counsel. Both will serve on the Company’s executive committee and report to Tom Frinzi, STAAR Surgical’s President and CEO.

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Nancy Sabin, Chief Marketing Officer, STAAR Surgical (Photo: Business Wire)

“We are thrilled to strengthen the STAAR team with the addition of Nancy and Nate, two seasoned executives with extensive senior leadership experience. They will play an integral role in accelerating our momentum and thereby growing the market for our surgeon customers who provide patients visual freedom from contact lenses and glasses with our lens-based technology,” said Tom Frinzi, President and CEO of STAAR Surgical. “Nancy is a perfect fit for the newly created Chief Marketing Officer position and will be critical to driving our brand awareness and innovation globally. She is a proven commercial leader with an extensive track record of delivering growth within consumer products, OTC pharmaceuticals and medical devices during her 20-year career with various franchises at Johnson & Johnson. Nate takes on an important role as our new General Counsel overseeing our legal functions globally. Nate brings to STAAR extensive experience providing legal advice and counsel to public companies, including 15 years in med-tech. He joins us from NuVasive where he was instrumental in its successful $3 billion merger with Globus Medical.”

Frinzi continued, “I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Sam Gesten, STAAR’s former general counsel, who retired after 12 years of service earlier this year. We are grateful for his tireless work in moving the company forward and wish him all the very best in the future.”

Nancy Sabin joined the team from Johnson & Johnson (J&J) where she most recently served as VP of Marketing and Connected Commerce for J&J Vision managing based marketing, digital strategy and connected commerce functions for the ACUVUE™ contact lens business in the U.S., one of J&J’s businesses with annual sales of at least $1 billion. Prior, she led Global Marketing for J&J Vision on the surgical side, driving innovation and equity for its industry leading global intraocular lenses. She has also held marketing leadership roles across J&J Consumer and J&J MedTech; with responsibility for driving growth and building global brands like TYLENOL™; ZYRTEC™ and ETHICON™. Nancy holds an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and a B.S. in Engineering from Duke University.

Ms. Sabin stated, “I am delighted to be a part of STAAR during this critical phase in the company's growth. I am a huge believer in the transformation made possible thanks to our EVO ICLs and look forward to elevating the STAAR and EVO brands among surgeons and their patients. I am excited and honored to lead our marketing teams worldwide.”

Nathaniel Sisitsky joined STAAR Surgical from NuVasive, Inc., a medical device company, where he served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since 2018. Prior to joining NuVasive, he served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel at CareFusion Corporation, a global medical technology company, and as Vice President, Legal – Corporate Finance at American Tower Corporation, a global owner and operator of wireless communication sites. Prior to joining American Tower, Nate was a Junior Partner in the Corporate Department of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (WilmerHale). He holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Emory University.

“I am thrilled to join the STAAR leadership team at a time of significant opportunity and growth for our vision correction lenses,” said Nate Sisitsky.

About STAAR Surgical

STAAR, which has been dedicated solely to ophthalmic surgery for over 40 years, designs, develops, manufactures and markets implantable lenses for the eye. These lenses are intended to provide visual freedom for patients, lessening or eliminating the reliance on glasses or contact lenses. All of these lenses are foldable, which permits the surgeon to insert them through a small incision. STAAR’s lens used in refractive surgery is called an Implantable Collamer® Lens or “ICL,” which includes the EVO ICL™ product line. More than 3,000,000 ICLs have been sold to date and STAAR markets these lenses in over 75 countries. To learn more about the ICL go to: EVOICL.com. Headquartered in Lake Forest, CA, the company operates manufacturing and packaging facilities in Aliso Viejo, CA, Monrovia, CA and Nidau, Switzerland. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.staar.com.