Former FDA Director and Boston Scientific Leaders Join Keyron Ahead of Human Trials of First Device with Metabolic Surgery-Like Results Without Incisions
Board Appointments
David Feigal MD (Head of Regulatory Affairs) – Former Director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH). Covered the highest role and authority in medical devices at the FDA. Brings decades of experience guiding breakthrough technologies through FDA approval and will now be the Company's lead for FDA engagement and IDE submission. Founder of leading U.S. regulatory consultancy, NDA Partners. Widely recognized as one of the most experienced regulatory experts in the U.S., he has held senior global roles at public companies Amgen and Elan and led or advised over 20 successful medical product approvals across therapeutic areas.
Joyce Peetermans, Ph.D. (Acting CTO) – 35+ years of leadership roles in R&D, Clinical Research, and Innovation in Gastroenterological and Surgical Endoscopy, and other specialties. She spent 25 years at Boston Scientific, where she was on the Endoscopy Management Board as VP of Global Clinical Programs, and VP of Innovation and Research during the $615M acquisition of Apollo Endosurgery and several other key acquisitions by Boston Scientific Endoscopy.
Christopher Rowland (Chairman) – A seasoned executive with over 35 years leading Class III endoscopic and metabolic device companies. He served as President at Given Imaging prior to its $860M PillCam exit to Covidien (Medtronic) and was CEO of Neotract before its $1.1B acquisition by Teleflex. He also spent 17 years in senior roles at Boston Scientific. Christopher will chair Keyron's board of directors and support its corporate development and fundraising strategy.
This leadership expansion follows several successful large-animal studies of ForePass demonstrating excellent safety, tolerability, and strong efficacy on both weight and insulin production. Key results were published in Gut (Angelini G, Galvao Neto M, Boskoski I, et al., 2024), showing ForePass's ability to replicate surgery-like results without incisions. The company is now preparing to unveil best-in-class preclinical data showing clear superiority over Semaglutide—the $28B/year standard of care for obesity and diabetes in Ozempic and Wegovy—across all major endpoints. These data are expected to be published this summer.
92% of Semaglutide patients fail to achieve 15% total body weight loss (New England Journal of Medicine, 2021; 385(6):503–515), with 85% discontinuing GLP-1 therapy within just 24 months (Reuters, 10 July 2024). Yet patients with severe obesity (BMI ≥35)—especially those who also have type 2 diabetes—need around 30% weight loss. Since GLP-1s fall substantially short and most stop taking them, surgery remains the only viable option, regularly delivering over 30% weight loss despite its risks and complications.
ForePass is a fully removable, endoscopically implantable device aiming to replicate the metabolic benefits of surgery without incisions. It targets patients with BMI ≥35 and diabetes or BMI ≥40—a large, high-risk population underserved by current treatments.
Giorgio Castagneto Gissey, Founder & CEO of Keyron, said:
'Christopher, David, and Joyce are absolute world-class leaders. Their decision to join Keyron reflects the urgency of the metabolic crisis—especially the unmet need in diabetes and higher BMI—and the unique power of what we've built. Their expertise will be transformative as we enter human trials and deliver the first truly effective, scalable alternative to surgery for millions.'
Keyron, a VC-backed startup, has developed a proprietary biometabolic implant and endoscopic delivery system, secured leading clinical sites in the U.S. and internationally, and completed long-term preclinical validation. Full efficacy results—including head-to-head data versus Semaglutide in a porcine model—will be published shortly. The company is now preparing for its First-In-Human study.
About Keyron
Keyron is the first biometabolic device platform company, pioneering a new class of implantable therapies that aim to replicate the effects of bariatric and metabolic surgery without incisions—and restore metabolic health at its root without driving insulin overproduction or dependency. Headquartered in London and Boston, Keyron's mission is to deliver a scalable alternative to surgery—and a better option for patients with severe obesity and diabetes. See Keyron.com for more information.
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