People In Brief

Spine Wave names CFO: Carmen Diersen signs on as CFO at orthopedic start-up Spine Wave, effective Sept. 1. Diersen will resign from American Medical Systems (AMS) where she helped guide five acquisitions during her CFO tenure, including AMS' $715 mil. purchase of Laserscope in July (1"The Gray Sheet" July 24, 2006, In Brief). Prior to AMS, Diersen spent 12 years in the cardiac rhythm management and spinal surgery businesses at Medtronic. Spine Wave has raised $90 mil. in funding to date, including a Series C financing worth $36.5 mil. this year. The Conn.-based firm plans a full U.S. launch of the StaXx XD expandable vertebral body replacement device this fall. The company is also developing the NuCore injectable nucleus and the StaXx FX fracture repair system. AMS appointed Jill Burchill as interim CFO...