Cyberonics, a medical technology company, has promoted Rohan Hoare, Ph.D., to the newly created role of chief operating officer. Rohan will be responsible for the development, manufacturing, quality and commercial activities for the Epilepsy franchise. The company also announced that O'Neill F. D'Cruz, M.D. recently joined the company as chief medical officer.

"We have made significant, multi-year investments in our sales force capabilities and our technology pipeline," said Dan Moore, Cyberonics' president and CEO. "The AspireSR pulse generator, with seizure detection and response technology, recently received CE-mark approval in Europe, and the Centro and ProGuardian products are nearing regulatory submissions. With Rohan as chief operating officer for the epilepsy business and Neil as chief medical officer, we have restructured the team and added new personnel to better focus our efforts on epilepsy market-development activities."

"Cyberonics' market position in the treatment of refractory epilepsy has never been stronger; yet, refractory epilepsy is still underserved," said Hoare. 

Since joining Cyberonics in September 2013, Hoare has been senior vice president, Strategic Planning, leading the company's business strategy development and execution. Formerly, he was president of St. Jude Medical's Neuromodulation Division, which designs, manufactures and sells neuromodulation devices for the treatment of chronic pain, movement disorders and chronic migraine headache. He began his career with McKinsey & Co., a premiere strategy consulting firm, where he served clients in high tech, med tech and healthcare payor and providers for nearly a decade. 

D'Cruz was most recently medical director, Neurology at UCB, S.A., and previously professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.