GuideStar appoints Amanda Malone as Chief Operating Officer | August 6, 2026
Victoria, BC – GuideStar Medical Devices has appointed Amanda Malone, PhD as Chief Operating Officer, effective August 3, 2026. Dr. Malone takes a broad executive remit spanning capital raising, sales, manufacturing, and long-term corporate strategy. She is also spearheading a significantly expanded marketing effort for EpiZact.
That marketing push is her most immediate priority. It widens GuideStar’s conference presence, adds direct outreach to the highest-volume epidural centres in the United States, and builds a far larger digital and campaign footprint than the company has run to date. The goal is straightforward: put EpiZact in front of every clinician who would adopt it today if they knew it existed.
Dr. Malone is a life sciences executive with nearly 20 years of experience scaling biotechnology organizations. As co-founder and COO/CSO of Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals, she grew the company from inception to 60 employees and a dual listing on the TSX and NASDAQ, building its research, manufacturing, quality, regulatory and clinical functions from the ground up. She holds a PhD in Bioengineering from Stanford University, has authored more than 25 publications and 6 patents families, and has served as Principal Investigator on studies awarded more than US$11 million in government grant funding.
“Amanda knows how to build companies” said Mike Dolphin, CEO and Founder of GuideStar. “She is also taking the lead on a far more ambitious marketing effort than we have been able to run until now. Having her on the team materially increases what this company can take on, and it lets me stay close to our clinicians and our training.”
“EpiZact solves a real and largely unaddressed problem in a procedure performed millions of times a year, and it is already in clinicians’ hands,” said Dr. Malone. “The gap now is awareness. My first priority is an expanded marketing effort that reaches many more of the clinicians who would welcome this device tomorrow. That is how strong early adoption turns into a standard of care.”
About EpiZact
Epidurals are performed to provide anesthesia to a patient, by means of injection of medication into the epidural space. Traditionally, epidurals are performed using the “loss of resistance” technique. EpiZact is the first device developed for epidurals that is designed to stop the forward motion of the needle upon sensing a loss of resistance, providing a tactile and visual signal to the user while simultaneously stopping the needle from further advancement, potentially reducing the incidence of accidental dural puncture.
About GuideStar
GuideStar Medical Devices is a medical device company located in Victoria, BC. The Company’s flagship device, EpiZact, was designed with the intent of reducing the incidence of accidental dural punctures during epidural administration. GuideStar is committed to offering innovative solutions to unmet medical needs with a primary goal of enhancing patient safety.
Investor Contact
Mike Dolphin
CEO, GuideStar Medical Devices
info@guidestarmd.com