Vafa Jamali New CEO of…Zimmer Biomet’s “StayTuned”

This company needs a name. In the meantime, the face of Zimmer Biomet’s “NewCo” is a rising star in med devices, former Medtronic exec, Vafa Jamali.

When will “NewCo” get a name? These days, thinking of a name takes forever, costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions and the final result is an otherwise nonsense word which offers vague impressions of whatever qualities senior Zimmer Biomet execs were aiming for.

For now, we’ll call “NewCo”, StayTuned.

StayTuned (aka: NewCo) is an independent, soon to be publicly traded company formed by Zimmer Biomet to house its spine and dental businesses—a nearly $1 billion enterprise. The whole spin-off transaction, a very complex maneuver, will likely close by mid-2022. For OTW’s initial coverage of the transaction, see “A Look Into Zimmer Biomet’s Spine and Dental Spin Off.”

Jamali expressed excitement about joining StayTuned, commenting, “I’m so excited to join NewCo at this pivotal time in the company’s creation. This is a prime opportunity to leverage my experience in execution and value creation for NewCo.”

Jamali has over 25 years of medical device industry experience and has spent more than 20 years serving top companies in executive leadership positions. His impressive resume includes Medtronic, Covidien, Cardinal Health, and Baxter. He currently serves on the board of directors for Canada-based Baylis Medical, a company that develops and commercializes cardiology and spine medical devices.

In his most recent role as Rockley Photonics Inc.’s chief commercial officer, he “led commercial strategic planning for the early-stage integrated optics solutions provider.” Prior to joining Rockley Photonics, he served as senior vice president and president of respiratory, gastrointestinal and informatics (RGI) within Medtronic’s minimally invasive therapies group (MITG). In that role, Jamali led 10,000 team members across four businesses and 14 manufacturing sites.

Zimmer Biomet President and CEO Bryan Hanson spoke to Jamali’s experience, stating, “Vafa’s [Jamali] extensive knowledge and experience in building teams, developing long-term growth strategies, prioritizing resources, driving execution and delivering growth across the medical device industry make him the ideal leader to shape the direction of NewCo and move the business forward.”

Hanson continued, “I look forward to partnering with Vafa [Jamali]—and the leadership team that he builds—through this important transition so we can position NewCo for maximum success.”