Appointment Supports Commercialization of Newly Launched BIONX Surgical Division, Formed Through Transformative Acquisition Expected to Significantly Scale Revenue

LANGHORNE, Pa., May 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEXGEL, Inc. ("NEXGEL" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: "NXGL"), a leading provider of healthcare, beauty, and over-the-counter (OTC) products including ultra-gentle, high-water-content hydrogel products for healthcare and consumer applications, today announced the appointment of Dave Hazard as Vice President of Sales for BIONX Surgical, a division of NEXGEL. Mr. Hazard brings more than 13 years of sales leadership across orthopedics, spine, and biologics, and joins BIONX Surgical at a key moment in the Company's commercial growth phase.

Adam Levy, Chief Executive Officer of NEXGEL, stated, "We are excited to welcome Dave to BIONX Surgical at a pivotal time in our growth phase. He has a proven ability to build scalable sales infrastructure and establish the kind of enterprise partnerships that drive repeatable revenue. His deep expertise in biologics, combined with a proven ability to build and lead high-performing sales teams will be instrumental as we scale our commercial operations for our newly formed BIONX Surgical division."

Mr. Hazard most recently served at Nuo Therapeutics, Inc., where he spent four years successfully commercializing the Aurix wound care PRP products. During his tenure, he built a salesforce of more than 400 representatives and secured Smith+Nephew as a white label partner for the Centrio product line. His responsibilities also included marketing, product development, portfolio expansion, fundraising, and strategic partnerships.

Prior to Nuo Therapeutics, Mr. Hazard served as Regional Manager of Orthobiologics at Arthrex for more than five years, where he led and expanded a biologics business generating over $50 million in annual revenue across orthopedic and sports medicine specialties. Arthrex is a current strategic partner of BIONX Surgical. Earlier in his career, Mr. Hazard spent 13 years in orthopedic and spine sales at Arthrex, Stryker, and Smith+Nephew.

Mr. Hazard commented, "NEXGEL and BIONX Surgical have a world-class portfolio with several new exciting products in the pipeline. The leadership team has executed key strategic partnerships and product innovation, creating meaningful opportunities across multiple verticals. We are well positioned to serve patients across sports medicine, orthopedics, plastics, wound care, and others with our robust tissue and hydrogel products. I believe these advantages will drive strong adoption and propel BIONX Surgical to rapid success."

About NEXGEL, Inc.

NEXGEL is a leading provider of healthcare, beauty, and over-the-counter (OTC) products including ultra-gentle, high-water-content hydrogel products for healthcare and consumer applications. Based in Langhorne, Pa., the Company has developed and manufactured electron-beam, cross-linked hydrogels for over two decades. NEXGEL brands include SilverSeal^®, Hexagels^®, Turfguard^®, Kenkoderm^® and Silly George^®. Additionally, NEXGEL has strategic contract manufacturing relationships with leading consumer healthcare companies.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") (which Sections were adopted as part of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "plan," "potential," "project," "prospects," "outlook," and similar words or expressions, or future or conditional verbs, such as "will," "should," "lends," "would," "may," and "could," are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts.. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any anticipated results, performance, or achievements for many reasons. The Company disclaims any intention to, and undertakes no obligation to, revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, a future event, or otherwise. For additional risks and uncertainties that could impact the Company's forward-looking statements, please see the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, including but not limited to the discussion under "Risk Factors" therein, which the Company filed with the SEC and which may be viewed at http://www.sec.gov/.

Investor Contacts:

Valter Pinto, Managing Director

KCSA Strategic Communications

212.896.1254

Nexgel@KCSA.com

NEXGEL Appoints Dave Hazard as Vice President of Sales for BIONX Surgical