Management

 
 

 

Dennis L. McWilliams

CEO/Founder

Dennis McWilliams is the CEO and Founder of Apollo Endosurgery. In 2006, he and the Apollo Group partnered to create Apollo Endosurgery, Inc. He brings a breadth of entrepreneurial experience in both medical devices and drug therapies to his role as CEO.

Prior to joining Apollo‚ Mr. McWilliams was an Entrepreneur in Residence at PTV Sciences‚ a venture capital fund focusing on life science and medical devices. In addition, Mr. McWilliams co-founded and acted as Chief Operating Officer of Chrysalis BioTechnology‚ a development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel drug therapies for tissue regeneration. As Chief Operating Officer‚ he was responsible for corporate financing‚ strategic partnering‚ and M&A activities and was instrumental in raising over $15M in financing and the signing of three major corporate partnerships. Chrysalis was acquired by OrthoLogic Corporation, now Capstone (NASDAQ: CAPS) in August 2004.

Mr. McWilliams received a Bachelor of Science with honors from the University of Texas and a Master of Science in Engineering Management from Stanford University.  He serves on the Board of Directors for the Texas Exes, as well as the Board of the Texas Life Science Center.  In 2007, he was awarded the Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award by the University of Texas.

 

 
 

J. Lee Putman

Global VP Sales & Marketing

J. Lee Putman joined Apollo Endosurgery as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing in 2006. He is a seasoned executive and brings with him considerable experience spanning over 26 years in sales and marketing management in the fields of endoscopy and surgery.  

Prior to joining Apollo Endosurgery, Mr. Putman was a key member of the Senior Management Team at Johnson & Johnson (J&J).  During his tenure at J&J, his entrepreneurial spirit was instrumental in the launch of three separate internal start-ups, including Ethicon® Products Mechanical Division and Ethicon Endo-Surgery® (EES).   He drew upon his extensive leadership experience to lead the launch of InScope®, which was built to commercialize the revolutionary esophageal PillCam®.   This included planning, building and developing the InScope team.  During his tenure at EES, he elevated global business growth from $130MM to $3B and crafted strategies and tactics that resulted in over 14% CAGR.

Mr. Putman holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the Indiana University‚ Kelly School of Business and an MBA from the Williams College of Business at Xavier University.

 

 
 

Mike Doty

CFO

Mike Doty joined Apollo Endosurgery as CFO in early 2011. His brings with him a breadth of experience – from strategic planning to hands-on value-building – which emanates from more than two decades of financial management in the technology and health care sectors.

Prior to joining Apollo Endosurgery, Mr. Doty served as Global Chief Financial Officer at Tornier NV, a global manufacturer and marketer of orthopedic medical devices. In this role he partnered with the CEO and executive team in preparing Tornier for one of the most successful medical device IPOs in the past few years.  Prior to Tornier NV, he served as CFO of Inamed Corporation, a leading provider of devices for bariatric surgery and aesthetic medicine.

Mr. Doty holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas and a Bachelor of Chemistry and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota. He is also a certified public accountant (CPA).

 

 
 

Charlie Dean

R&D Director

Charlie Dean joined Apollo Endosurgery as the R&D Director in 2010. He is responsible for the design and development of Apollo Endosurgery’s portfolio of products and brings with him over 12 years of experience in Class II & III medical product development and implementing scalable and sustainable supply chains.

Mr. Dean came to Apollo Endosurgery from PA Consulting Group, where he consulted for many start-up and big-cap medical device and pharmaceutical companies both in the UK and US. During his tenure at PA, he assisted his clients in the creation and commercialization of 14 Class II & III medical and combination devices and realized over $80M in manufacturing cost savings for existing products. His expertise spans product & process design, technology transfer, manufacturing scale-up, process improvement, due diligence, and quality & compliance.

Mr. Dean holds a Masters in Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) & Certified Project Manager (PMP).

 

 

 
 

Ted Stephens

Global Marketing Director

Ted Stephens joined Apollo Endosurgery as the Marketing Director in 2010.  He brings with him over 18 years of experience in the medical device arena that includes leadership of high performing teams in the areas of Sales, Marketing and New Product Development.

Mr. Stephens comes to Apollo Endosurgery from Ethicon Endo-Surgery (EES) where he led both sales and marketing initiatives across a portfolio of laparoscopic surgical products and procedures.  He was responsible for the commercial launch of the REALIZE® Adjustable Gastric Band which resulted in first year sales of over $51MM.  In 2009 he was promoted to Market Creation Director. In this role he was responsible for the development of new minimally invasive technology platforms for the treatment of obesity. 

Mr. Stephens earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering at Michigan State University and his MBA at Xavier University School of Business Administration. During his career at EES, he was recognized for multiple Sales, Marketing and Leadership awards.