Tokyo-PENTAX Medical, a division of HOYA Group, has announced the appointment of Dr. Klaus Mergener, MD, PhD, MBA to the position of Chief Medical Officer of PENTAX Lifecare Division (PENTAX Medical) as of April 1st, 2022.

"We are pleased to have Dr. Klaus Mergener support PENTAX Medical in driving our mission to become the preferred choice in flexible endoscopy from screening to therapeutics providing for integrated solutions to optimize patient care," said Rainer Burkard, Global President of PENTAX Medical.

Dr. Mergener is a clinical gastroenterologist with special interest and expertise in interventional endoscopy and cancer prevention. He currently serves as an Affiliate Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington and maintains a busy endoscopic practice.

Dr. Mergener attended medical school in Frankfurt and Heidelberg, Germany, and at Duke University and Harvard University in the U.S. He completed his MD/PhD-thesis summa cum laude with 2008 Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Harald zur Hausen at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg. He then returned to Duke University for his residency in internal medicine and his fellowship training in gastroenterology and interventional endoscopy. He received his MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Dr. Mergener is a member of several professional organizations including the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) where he served as President from 2020 to 2021 and as Vice Chair of its Foundation from 2014 to 2018. He is also actively involved in the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG), the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and the World Endoscopy Organization (WEO).

“A close collaboration between endoscopists and industry has always been the key to innovation and clinical progress in our field", said Dr. Mergener. "I applaud PENTAX Medical for seeking to further enhance their partnership with the medical community to provide optimal support for the work we do on behalf of our patients. I am very much looking forward to assisting the global PENTAX Medical team in this effort."

Rainer Burkard commented: “ Working closely with professional medical organizations and key opinion leaders around the world is critically important for PENTAX Medical to identify medical trends, and to partner in clinical studies and education. We are excited to have Dr. Mergener support these efforts and look forward to working jointly on developing solutions that will enhance users' experience and optimize patient care”.

About PENTAX Medical

PENTAX Medical is a division of HOYA Group. The company’s mission is to improve the standard of patient care and quality of healthcare delivery by providing the best endoscopic products and services with a focus on QUALITY, CLINICALLY RELEVANT INNOVATION, and SIMPLICITY. PENTAX Medical strives to align with the healthcare community’s Triple Aim goals through transparent partnerships with its customers and by providing the highest quality solutions to help them reach their goals, including enabling customers to improve patient outcomes by offering evidence-based solutions across the continuum of care; ensuring value by supporting the customers to improve their efficiency and minimize their healthcare costs; and enriching patient and provider’s experience by empowering every member of the care team to achieve optimal outcomes through products, education, and support. Focused on the outcome instead of technological features, PENTAX Medical listens to the healthcare community and their patients, understands their daily obstacles and helps improve endoscopy with smart innovations.

For more information: www.pentaxmedical.com

Contact:

Kaori Kawashima GM,

Corporate Communications & Product Branding

PENTAX Medical

HOYA Group

Email: kaori.kawashima@pentaxmedical.com

Mobile phone: ＋81-80-4794-5842

Address: 1-1-110 Tsutsujigaoka, Akishima-shi, Tokyo 196-0012, Japan

Document Control Number: MKGEN-3392EN-G Rev 1 (v1.0)