InspireMD Appoints David Blossom as Vice President of Global Marketing and Strategy

BOSTON, Sept. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- InspireMD Inc. (NYSE MKT: NSPR) ("InspireMD" or the "Company"), a leader in embolic protection stents, today announced the appointment of David Blossom as Vice President of Global Marketing and Strategy. Blossom will be based in Boston.

As InspireMD expands its presence internationally, Blossom, a 25-year sales and marketing veteran with expertise in interventional devices, will be responsible for creating and overseeing the implementation of a global strategic marketing plan. The result will be a comprehensive product portfolio plan that addresses the emerging coronary, carotid and multiple vascular opportunities available to the Company.

"David's significant experience in the interventional device market will be critically important to the Company as we move deeper into our coronary activities and begin executing on exciting new opportunities such as the carotid and peripheral applications of our technology," commented Alan Milinazzo, CEO of InspireMD.

Prior to joining InspireMD, Blossom worked with several prestigious medical device companies. He served as Vice President of Marketing for Covidien/Aspect Medical Systems, a global healthcare products company, and Capella Medical Devices, which develops solutions for the treatment of complex coronary artery disease. At Covidien, he successfully contributed to the company's growth from a $20 million annual revenue business to $110 million.

In addition to the aforementioned roles, Blossom worked at Boston Scientific Corporation for eight years in senior marketing roles for the Vascular Division. During his tenure with Boston Scientific Vascular, he was responsible for the venous disease/vena cava filter product line which ultimately became the top product in the market in that highly competitive product category.

Mr. Blossom holds a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Advertising from Louisiana State University.

Inducement Awards

In connection with his appointment, InspireMD made an inducement grant to Blossom pursuant to a stand-alone award agreement outside of InspireMD's 2011 Umbrella Option Plan as an inducement material to Blossom entering into employment with InspireMD in accordance with Section 711(a) of the NYSE MKT Company Guide. The inducement grant was approved by the compensation committee of InspireMD's board of directors, which is comprised solely of independent directors. Blossom's inducement grant consists of a stock option to purchase up to 150,000 shares of InspireMD's common stock, with a per share exercise price equal to the closing price of the Company's common stock on September 16, 2013, the effective date of Blossom's employment with InspireMD. Blossom's option vests and becomes exercisable in three equal annual installments beginning on the one-year anniversary of the date of grant, subject to his continuous service through each vesting date. The option has a term of 10 years from the date of grant.

InspireMD also made an inducement grant to Dr. Campbell Rogers pursuant to a stand-alone award agreement outside of the InspireMD's 2011 Umbrella Option Plan in connection with his appointment to the board of directors on September 3, 2013. The inducement grant was approved by the compensation committee of InspireMD's board of directors.  Dr. Rogers's inducement grant consists of a stock option to purchase up to 125,000 shares of InspireMD's common stock, with a per share exercise price of $2.12, which was the closing price of the Company's common stock on the September 3, 2013 grant date. Dr. Rogers's option vests and becomes exercisable in three equal annual installments beginning on the one-year anniversary of the date of grant, subject to his continuous service through each vesting date, provided that in the event that Dr. Rogers is either (i) not reelected as a director at InspireMD's 2014 annual meeting of stockholders, or (ii) not nominated for reelection as a director at InspireMD's 2014 annual meeting of stockholders, the option vests and becomes exercisable on the date of Dr. Rogers's failure to be reelected or nominated. The option has a term of 10 years from the date of grant.

About Stenting and MGuard™ EPS
Standard stents were not engineered for heart attack patients. They were designed for treating stable angina patients whose occlusion is different from that of an occlusion in a heart attack patient.
In acute heart attack patients, the plaque or thrombus is unstable and often breaks up as the stent is implanted causing downstream blockages (some of which can be fatal) in a significant portion of heart attack patients.

The MGuard EPS is integrated with a precisely engineered micro net mesh that prevents the unstable arterial plaque and thrombus (clots) that caused the heart attack blockage from breaking off. While offering superior performance relative to standard stents in STEMI patients with regard to ST segment resolution, the MGuard EPS requires no change in current physician practice – an important factor in promoting acceptance and general use in time-critical emergency settings.

About InspireMD, Inc.

InspireMD seeks to utilize its proprietary MGuard technology to make its products the industry standard for embolic protection stents and to provide a superior solution to the key clinical issues of current stenting in patients with a high risk of distal embolization, no reflow and major adverse cardiac events.  InspireMD intends to pursue applications of this technology in coronary, carotid and peripheral artery procedures.  InspireMD's common stock is quoted on the NYSE MKT under the ticker symbol NSPR. MGuard EPS is CE Mark approved. It is not approved for sale in the U.S. by the FDA at this time.

Forward-looking Statements:

This press release contains "forward-looking statements." Such statements may be preceded by the words "intends," "may," "will," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "projects," "predicts," "estimates," "aims," "believes," "hopes," "potential" or similar words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, are based on certain assumptions and are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control, and cannot be predicted or quantified and consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with (i) market acceptance of our existing and new products, (ii) negative clinical trial results or lengthy product delays in key markets, (iii) an inability to secure regulatory approvals for the sale of our products, (iv) intense competition in the medical device industry from much larger, multinational companies, (v) product liability claims, (vi) our limited manufacturing capabilities and reliance on subcontractors for assistance, (vii) insufficient or inadequate reimbursement by governmental and other third party payers for our products, (viii) our efforts to successfully obtain and maintain intellectual property protection covering our products, which may not be successful, (ix) legislative or regulatory reform of the healthcare system in both the U.S. and foreign jurisdictions, (x) our reliance on single suppliers for certain product components, (xi) the fact that we will need to raise additional capital to meet our business requirements in the future and that such capital raising may be costly, dilutive or difficult to obtain and (xii) the fact that we conduct business in multiple foreign jurisdictions, exposing us to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, logistical and communications challenges, burdens and costs of compliance with foreign laws and political and economic instability in each jurisdiction. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward looking statements is set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Transition Report on Form 10-K/T and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Investors and security holders are urged to read these documents free of charge on the SEC's web site at http://www.sec.gov. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Media Contacts:
Samantha Wolf / Taylor McGrann
KCSA Strategic Communications
212-896-1220 / 212-896-1253
swolf@kcsa.com / tmcgrann@kcsa.com

SOURCE InspireMD, Inc.