IRIDEX Names Veteran Healthcare Executive Dominik Beck President, CEO

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Oct. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IRIDEX Corporation (Nasdaq: IRIX) (the "Company") today announced that Dominik Beck has been named President and Chief Executive Officer effective today. Dr. Beck replaces Theodore A. Boutacoff, a co-founder of IRIDEX who will become Chief Technology Officer, and will also replace Mr. Boutacoff on the IRIDEX Board of Directors.

Dr. Beck, 47, has spent the majority of his career in leadership and management roles at innovative and growing global healthcare companies focused on eye care and ophthalmic devices. Most recently, Dr. Beck was President and Chief Operating Officer of Haag-Streit U.S. Holdings, a U.S. subsidiary of Switzerland-based Haag-Streit International, a global maker of diagnostic equipment in eye care.

Dr. Beck joined Haag-Streit in 2003 as President and Chief Operating Officer of Haag-Streit USA Inc. Under his leadership, the company delivered a continuous stream of innovation, expanded into new clinical applications and substantially broadened national distribution to achieve an annual double-digit revenue growth rate since 2003.

"Dominik has demonstrated that he has the commercial vision and business acumen to accelerate IRIDEX along its strategic path of growth and profitability," said Chairman William M. Moore. "He has exceptional leadership skills and a breadth of background in our business segment, both nationally and internationally, that will allow him to contribute immediately to our organization and accelerate our synergistic strategy of diagnostic and therapeutic platforms. Under Dominik's leadership, we believe we are well positioned to execute commercially and to meet a growing number of strategic and clinical milestones."

Moore added that Mr. Boutacoff's appointment to Chief Technology Officer was part of the Board of Directors' long term strategy for transitioning the leadership of IRIDEX and that the Board wished to express its gratitude to Mr. Boutacoff for his tenure as Chief Executive Officer.  Mr. Boutacoff, who was originally CEO from 1989 to 2005, was asked by the Board to return to the Chief Executive Officer position in 2007 to manage a successful turnaround effort.  As Chief Technology Officer, he will manage R&D and will be focused on the commercial development of the Company's innovative MicroPulse technology, a laser delivery modality that promises to be more effective for ocular treatments with fewer collateral effects than conventional laser treatments and potentially greater durability than competing drug therapies.

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