MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 2 (HSMN NewsFeed) -- AGA Medical Corporation ("AGA") today announced that it has appointed Brigid A. Makes as chief financial officer. She will report to Franck Gougeon, President and CEO of AGA and AGA's Board of Directors.

Ms. Makes brings more than 25 years of experience in financial and operating roles. Most recently Brigid was an executive with Nektar Therapeutics in San Carlos, CA. She joined Nektar in 1999 as chief financial officer. In 2003 she transitioned into a series of senior operating positions at Nektar, playing a key role in the commercial development for Exubera, a first in class inhaleable insulin device and drug developed by Nektar in partnership with Pfizer. Prior to joining Nektar, Brigid served as chief financial officer at two healthcare firms including Haemonetics Corporation, a leading supplier of blood processing equipment and disposables. Prior to Haemonetics, she served in the controller and treasury functions at Lotus Development (now IBM) during a time when sales increased from $100M to $900M. Brigid started her career at General Electric, where she participated in GE's Financial Management Program. At GE, Brigid held positions of increasing responsibilities in several of the company's business areas.

"We are pleased to add Brigid to the senior management team at AGA Medical," said Franck Gougeon, President and CEO of AGA. "She brings a unique combination of public company finance and operations experience in high growth technology and medical device companies that will be invaluable at AGA as we continue our rapid expansion."

Ms. Makes holds a Bachelors of Commerce from McGill University, and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Bentley College.