Following the takeover of Affitech A/S by two Russian biotech entrepreneurs in April, the chief executive, Robert Burns has resigned. He is being replaced by Martin Welschof, previously the chief operating officer.
Dr Welschof was a co-founder of Affitech AS while he was doing his post-doctoral training at the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany. He served Affitech as its CEO for five years before become its COO.
There has been a succession of management changes at Affitech since the company was created following the reverse acquisition, in May 2009, of Danish company Pharmexa A/S by Affitech Research AS of Norway.
The latest change comes after Viktor Kharitonin, chairman of JSC Pharmstandard, one of Russia’s largest pharmaceutical companies, and Aleksandr Shuster, a 50% shareholder of NTS Plus (NauchTekhStroy), a Russian biotech company, obtained 53% control of Affitech in April.
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