Solaris Endovascular adds CTO and board director as it advances stent program

Solaris Endovascular appointed Rowan Hettel as chief technology officer and David Stack as an independent board director as the Dallas-based company pushes its Solaris DE stent through U.S. regulatory development. The moves are aimed at strengthening leadership ahead of strategic partnerships and future commercialization.

Why it matters: - Solaris Endovascular is adding senior leadership as the company moves its flagship Solaris DE stent through U.S. regulatory development. - The appointments come as Solaris prepares for strategic partnerships and future commercialization. - The leadership additions are meant to support product development, clinical progress and investor confidence around the company’s endovascular platform.

What happened: - Solaris Endovascular named Rowan Hettel chief technology officer. - Solaris Endovascular named David Stack an independent member of its Board of Directors. - The company announced the appointments on July 7, 2026, in Dallas. - Randy Hubbell, president and chief executive officer, said the company is entering an important phase where execution across technology development, regulatory strategy, clinical advancement and commercialization will shape its ability to create a new category of endovascular therapy.

The details: - Hettel has two decades of experience in cardiovascular and endovascular technologies. - Hettel has worked at Stryker, LimFlow, Johnson & Johnson and Boston Scientific. - At Boston Scientific, Hettel helped develop the Eluvia drug-eluting vascular stent. - At LimFlow, Hettel served as director of R&D and led engineering development of the Transcatheter Arterialization of the Deep Veins system for patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia. - The LimFlow system included the first FDA-approved endovascular implant using electrospun PTFE technology. - Solaris said Hettel’s background includes FDA interactions, product development, intellectual property and manufacturing scale-up. - Hettel said the Solaris platform is already well differentiated and that the combination of an impermeable electrospun PTFE covered stent with targeted sirolimus delivery addresses the biological causes of restenosis. - Stack brings more than 30 years of experience building, financing and scaling healthcare companies. - Stack most recently served as chairman and chief executive officer of Pacira BioSciences. - During Stack’s tenure, Pacira grew from a development-stage company into a commercial biopharmaceutical company with a peak market capitalization exceeding several billion dollars. - Stack also previously served as president, chief executive officer and director of The Medicines Company. - Earlier in his career, Stack was a managing director at MPM Capital. - Marco Costa, chairman of the board, said Stack’s experience in public company leadership, strategic transactions and capital markets will be central as Solaris works with strategic and institutional partners.

Between the lines: - Solaris is signaling that execution now matters as much as technology development. - Hettel’s background suggests Solaris wants deeper operating experience in drug-eluting devices, regulatory pathways and manufacturing. - Stack’s record points to a board strategy focused on financing, partnerships and eventual scale-up. - The company is also trying to show that its technology and clinical data can attract seasoned operators with relevant exits and commercial experience.

What's next: - Solaris said Hettel will help advance Solaris DE through U.S. clinical studies and commercialization. - Stack is expected to support the board as Solaris engages strategic and institutional partners. - The company will continue advancing Solaris DE through regulatory development while preparing for broader commercial plans. - Solaris Endovascular’s platform also includes Solaris SX, a commercially available self-expanding covered stent approved in more than 40 countries outside the United States. - Solaris DE has received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for stenosis in arteriovenous graft dialysis access.

The bottom line: - Solaris is building out leadership around a stent platform it hopes can move from regulatory progress to commercial traction.