Straumann, a global leader in implant dentistry and oral tissue regeneration, today announced the appointment of Alain Laroche as head of its country organization in Canada with effect of 31 July 2006. Mr Laroche, who is a medical biologist by training, is a highly experienced general manager in the life-sciences and med-tech fields with a strong international background in sales and
marketing. These qualities make him ideally suited to lead Straumann’s rapidly growing business in Canada into the next stage of its development.
Alain Laroche joins Straumann from Advanced Bioelectric, Inc, a start-up company in Quebec involved in researching and developing medical devices for cardiac monitoring. He spent the past four years there as Vice President Sales, Marketing and Business Development. Before this, he worked for a year in the Netherlands as a management consultant to Orapharma Inc, a company specializing in periodontal antibiotic delivery. Alain Laroche has spent the majority of his career in the specialist nutrition industry, where he worked for 14 years with Mead Johnson a multinational subsidiary of Bristol- Myers Squibb. After joining that company in 1986, he took on increasingly senior roles in sales and general management. Between 1992 and 1998 he worked in Europe, beginning as manager of the business in France and Belgium and culminating in his appointment as General Manager Southern Europe. He subsequently returned to Canada to become Vice President and General Manager, Mead Johnson Canada. Prior to joining Mead Johnson, he was a Regional Manager at Roussel Pharmaceutical and at Gardo Veterinary. His career began in sales as a pharmaceuticals representative, initially at Ayerst Laboratories and then at Eli Lilly. Alain Laroche is bilingual (French and English) and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Biology, which he obtained from the University of Quebec.
Recently introduced innovations
This is an exciting time for Straumann in Canada, particularly in view of the company’s current growth and broad range of innovative products and services. The most recent and significant introductions in Canada are SLActive and Straumann BoneCeramic. SLActive, the third-generation implant surface technology which has proven to cut healing times in half to just 3-4 weeks1. SLActive achieves excellent results even with immediate or early loading. In addition to this benefit of shorter treatment protocols, SLActive has been shown to reduce the risk of early implant failure, and could open.