WhiteSwell Adds Experienced Executives to its Senior Management Team

GALWAY, Ireland – 26 January 2022 – WhiteSwell, a company pioneering new ways to treat acute decompensated heart failure, announced today the appointment of Linda Nelson as Vice President of Clinical and Martin Keegan as Vice President of Technical Operations.

Linda brings deep expertise in heart failure, clinical trial design, clinical trial execution and building clinical teams to her role leading WhiteSwell’s clinical program. She is guiding clinical strategy to demonstrate the potential for WhiteSwell’s endovenous decongestion therapy leveraging the lymphatics to target interstitial decongestion in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) patients. Linda joins WhiteSwell from Medtronic, where she directed numerous clinical research teams. She previously served as Vice President of Clinical Affairs at Respicardia, where she led successful execution of a randomized, pivotal IDE clinical trial. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from St. Olaf’s College, Minn. and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas, Minn.

Martin joins WhiteSwell with a breadth of technical expertise spanning endovascular and cardiovascular medical devices through to electronics, including hardware and software development. As the VP of Technical Operations, he oversees a world-wide network of suppliers to deliver high quality precision-engineered products. Most recently, as Technical Operations Director and Integration Leader at Boston Scientific, he was responsible for manufacturing, process optimization and validation, and led a successful technology transfer program. Martin holds an MEngSc in Mechanical Engineering from National University of Ireland, Galway, and is a Chartered Engineer of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland.

“Both Linda and Martin bring extensive experience and seasoned leadership to the WhiteSwell team,” said Eamon Brady, CEO. “With a powerful senior management team in place, WhiteSwell is well positioned to advance its pioneering treatment of acute decompensated heart failure by leveraging the lymphatic system. WhiteSwell’s unique catheter-based system is designed to improve decongestion by assisting the lymphatic network in removing excess fluid from the body’s tissues.”

ADHF is an episode of worsening heart failure symptoms that results in millions of hospitalizations worldwide each year, including three million in the U.S. alone.¹ Patients with ADHF experience difficulty breathing, fatigue, and edema (swelling) due to fluid back-up in the lungs and other parts of the body (congestion). The condition requires hospital-based treatment to remove excess fluid in a process called decongestion. Complete decongestion is the goal of ADHF treatment, since residual congestion at hospital discharge is the strongest predictor of rehospitalization and death.² As many as half of ADHF patients are discharged from the hospital not fully decongested, and 25% of ADHF patients are readmitted to the hospital within one month.^3,4,5

About the Lymphatic System and ADHF

In healthy individuals, the lymphatic system continuously captures fluid from tissues throughout the body and pumps it back into the vascular system to maintain homeostasis. In ADHF, excess fluid collects in the tissues of the body (the interstitial compartment) causing edema and an increase in venous blood pressure. Excess tissue fluid and high venous blood pressure interfere with the lymphatic system’s natural ability to move fluid, which can further exacerbate congestion.

About WhiteSwell

WhiteSwell is a science-driven company dedicated to improving treatment of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), a primary cause of repeat hospitalization and emergency room visits. The company is pioneering a minimally invasive catheter-based approach designed to more efficiently remove excess interstitial fluid in patients with ADHF by leveraging the lymphatic system’s natural ability to actively drain fluid. For more information visit www.whiteswell.com.

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