Meet Our Board

Øyvind Kongstun Arnesen

Øyvind is a medical doctor (MD) with over a decade of clinical experience and extensive background in the pharmaceutical industry. He has held positions such as Medical Director at BMS Norway, Medical Director, and Head of Clinical Operations at Boehringer Ingelheim, and served as CEO of Ultimovacs from 2012 to 2020. Currently, he serves as the Chair of the Board for Oslo Cancer Cluster, while also working as an independent advisor to Radforsk and other investors in the life science sector.

Chairman of The Board

Pål Rongved

PhD in Medicinal chemistry, Oslo. Professor University of Oslo. Founder of Adjutec Pharma and holds the position as CSO. Previously 22 years in leading positions in R&D including IPR chemical engineering at GE HealthCare and holds more than 50 patents.

Board Member

Kjell-Erik Nordby

Master's degree in Pharmacy and Master's degree in Business Administration, Oslo. Former CEO at Vistin Pharma. Previous experience includes several years in top management positions at ALpharma, a leading international generic pharmaceutical company, and as head of business development in Photocure, a Norwegian bladder cancer company.

Board Member

Ton Berkien

BDO Advisor at AdjuTec Pharma. CBO of Cantargia and Chairman of the Board at Gedea Lund. Previously served as Director of Business Development at Amgen and Takeda. Educational background includes a BA in Economics and Business Information, with additional leadership programs from LsID (Harvard Business School/IMD/PwC)

Board Member

Nicolaj Weiergang

Financial Advisor at AdjuTec Pharma. CEO of Arctic Seafood Group AS, specializing in production and research within aquaculture. Extensive experience in raising private and public capital, as well as business strategy and development. Holds a Master’s degree (MSc) in Finance.

Board Member

Hege Tjørsvaag Brattebø

MSc in Applied Economics and Finance from Copenhagen Business School (CBS). Joined Kistefos as investment manager in 2020 after working in the Investment Banking Division at Swedbank, specializing in leveraged finance transactions. Hege represents Kistefos on various boards, including Previwo AS, Opplysningen 1881 AS, Digitale Medier AS, Idium 1881 AS, Tjenestetorget AS, NextGenTel AS, Bitpro AS, 2nd Chance AS, and Seniorvikarene AS.

Board Member

Espen Franzon Amundsen

Espen Franzon Amundsen became a part of Kistefos in 2024 after a successful tenure in the Investment Banking Division at ABG Sundal Collier. Holding an MSc in Economics and Business Administration, specializing in Finance, from the Norwegian School of Economics, Franzon adds valuable expertise to our team.

Board Member

Pål Rongved

CSO

Management

Jethro Holter

PhD in Molecular Neuroscience, Cardiff UK. Over two decades of international experience in the life science and diagnostic industry. Currently, Chairman of the Board at Genetic Analysis AS, Oslo. Former group CEO of ArcticZymes Technologies ASA, Tromsø. Previous experience from Thermo Fisher Scientific in international business development as well as other commercial roles. Earlier in his career, he was R&D Director at Mole Genetics AS and started his industrial career as a researcher in target discovery at Pfizer, UK.

CEO

Bjørn Klem

Master's degree in Pharmacy, Oslo. Former head of Oslo Cancer Cluster Incubator supporting start-ups, raising private/public capital and business development. Previous experience includes 30 years in leading positions in R&D at NAF-Lab, Hydro Pharma, Pronova and PhotoCure.

COO

Rebekka Rolfsnes

MSc in Molecular Biology at the University of Oslo. Her last position was at Oslo University Hospital as a Specialist Engineer, working with diagnostics of SARS-CoV-2. She is currently working towards finishing her industrial PhD at AdjuTec.

Senior Scientist

Bjørg Bolstad

MSc in Physiology at University of Oslo, previous experience from global clinical development program at Nycomed/Amersham, Photocure, Algeta and Nordic Nanovector. Her last position was as Senior Advisor at Norwegian Medicines Agency, being a Norwegian representative in the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) at the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Chief Clinical & Regulatory Officer

Advisors

John Rountree

MBA, London Business School. MA Engineering, Economics and Management, University of Oxford. John has extensive experience guiding global pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical tech firms in addressing complex challenges across R&D, commercial, and corporate development. Before founding Novasecta, he held key roles in renowned consulting firms and served on executive boards for University of Cambridge biotech startups.

Rafael Cantón

PhD. Head of the Clinical Microbiology Department at the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital (Madrid, Spain) and associated Professor of Clinical Microbiology at Complutense University, Madrid. ESCMID Fellow, previously Chairman of EUCAST and President of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC).

David Livermore

Retired Prof of Medical Microbiology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Previously Director of Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring and Reference Laboratory in Public Health England. David has authored over 500 papers and appears on Clarivate's 'Most Cited' list. He has edited for multiple journals and, until 2021, he served on the UK Government's Advisory Committees on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Infection.

Peter Coderre

PhD Microbiology, Regulatory Consultant and Scientific Advisor CARB-X, previously FDA reviewer, Director BioScience Laboratories.

Ian Morrissey

MSc Pharmacy and MBA, UK. Founder of Antimicrobial Focus Ltd. offering microbiology support and consultancy for human and veterinary medicine. Previously CSO IHMA Europe, Director of Microbiology in Quotient Bioresearch Ltd. and CEO of GR Micro Ltd.

David Findlay

MBA in Strategic Planning and International Business, University of Bradford, UK. CEO of Rostra Therapeutics Ltd. focusing on Fungal Infections. Previously held senior global, regional and local commercial leadership roles in J&J, Glaxo Wellcome, SmithKline Beecham and GSK. International track record in antibiotics to address the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Consultants

Vitalina is hired as a consultant to take on administrative work. She is a chemical engineer with an MBA from Nottingham Trent University (UK) and experience from administrative work in Europe, Southeast Asia and Norway.

Vitalina Liapko