Apollo Endosurgery (APEN) Announces CEO Transition

Apollo Endosurgery, Inc. ("Apollo") (NASDAQ: APEN), a global leader in next-generation minimally invasive medical devices for gastrointestinal and bariatric procedures, announced today a planned CEO change. Effective March 1, 2021, Charles (Chas) McKhann will become CEO and a member of the Board of Directors. Current CEO Todd Newton will help facilitate an effective transition to Mr. McKhann and has agreed to serve as a consultant to the Company for up to 6 months following his transition.

John Barr, Chairman of Apollo's Board of Directors, commented, "We are pleased to announce Chas' appointment, and we want to thank Todd for his excellent stewardship. While Todd's achievements are many, his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly notable. In the past year, Todd's timely decision making has resulted in a leaner company, with a materially stronger balance sheet. He has built a robust foundation for the next stage of Apollo's growth. On a path to profitability, driven by continued strong sales of OverStitch™ and Orbera�, and with the recent approval and upcoming full commercial launch of X-Tack™, we felt the time was appropriate to transition to a new leader."

Mr. Newton made a number of lasting contributions to the evolution and growth of the Company. Under his 6� year leadership, the Company established a global sales and distribution footprint supported by internal manufacturing and a robust quality system. His work on rationalizing and repositioning the Company's product portfolio has been particularly important, with the FDA PMA approval of Orbera followed by the OverStitch Sx™ and X-Tack approvals being key milestones. These approvals have expanded the Company's world-leading endolumenal suturing franchise in both the upper and lower GI markets.

Mr. McKhann is a proven medtech executive with experience at both large device companies such as Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson, and earlier stage companies such as Torax Medical (acquired by Johnson & Johnson) and Intersect ENT. While at Johnson & Johnson, he played a significant role in the launch of the first drug eluting stent, Cypher�, helping to significantly increase market share. He has extensive hands-on experience in clinical, regulatory and reimbursement activities supporting a variety of novel and innovative medical devices. Mr. McKhann started his career at McKinsey & Co., and earned a Bachelor's degree and Masters of Business Administration from Stanford University.

Mr. Barr commented, "We are excited to have a proven executive like Chas join Apollo and to lead our management team. The launch of X-Tack represents a potential inflection point in the growth of the company. Chas brings a great depth of experience in successfully commercializing new technologies including securing reimbursement and building strong, supporting medical economics cases."

"This is an exciting time for Apollo," Mr. McKhann stated. "As an innovative company with truly game-changing technology, we have the potential to revolutionize gastrointestinal procedures and the management of obesity, improving the lives of millions of patients with GI and bariatric conditions. We have extraordinary opportunities to continue to accelerate the expansion of our product franchises globally. I am honored to lead Apollo and the management team as we execute our strategy of delivering life-changing technology to our patients and generating profitable growth for our Company."

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