Bactiguard’s CEO Steps Down

Christian Kinch announced to the Board that he will resign as CEO of Bactiguard Holding AB (publ) after close to 16 years. The Board has appointed CFO and Deputy CEO Cecilia Edström as new CEO of Bactiguard and Stefan Grass (CMO) as Deputy CEO. Until a permanent CFO has been recruited, Financial manager Lina Arverud will hold the position as acting CFO.
 
Prior to the Board’s decision, the Nomination Committee held an extraordinary meeting and decided to propose that Christian Kinch is elected new Chairman of the Board at the Annual General Meeting on April 28. The current Chairman of the Board Jan Ståhlberg has announced that he will be available for re-election as a Board member. The Nomination Committee proposes Jan Ståhlberg as Deputy Chairman of the Board.
 
Christian Kinch is one of two main shareholders of Bactiguard and has been the CEO of the company since it was founded in 2005, except for one year (2014 – 2015) when he was Chairman of the Board.
 
“I have been the CEO of Bactiguard for almost sixteen years. During that time, we have grown from a company with a handful of employees to a listed company with business in approx. 40 countries and nearly 200 employees, following the acquisition of Vigilenz. Everything has its time and every time has its leadership. I now feel it is time to hand over the management responsibility and focus on my role as owner,” said Christian Kinch.
 
“Cecilia Edström and I have worked closely for six years and together we have developed the company both commercially and structurally and at the same time turned the profitability around. I am confident that she is the right person to assume the CEO role in the new phase that lies ahead of us. It is with great pleasure I hand over the leadership responsibility to her,” Christian Kinch continued.
 
“I am proud and delighted to be able to lead Bactiguard into the next phase, where my experience from significantly larger companies will be useful. The focus ahead will be to continue to grow by increasing sales of our own product portfolio and developing new licensing deals, as infection prevention becomes more important for patient safety. In that perspective, the licensing deal with Zimmer Biomet and the acquisition of Vilgilenz pave the way for new opportunities and we have an exciting time ahead of us,” said Cecilia Edström.
 
Cecilia Edström was recruited to Bactiguard ahead of the IPO in 2014 and has had several roles in the company since then, most recently as CFO and Deputy CEO. She has earlier been a member of the executive management teams of both Scania and TeliaSonera.
 
She started her career in corporate finance at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and was thereafter recruited to Scania ahead of the company’s IPO. At Scania, she was responsible for investor and corporate relations, business development, strategy and communication for a total of thirteen years in the company. In connection with Volkswagen’s acquisition, she left Scania and became Head of Group Communications at TeliaSonera. Cecilia Edström was born in 1966 and holds a degree in business economics from the Stockholm School of Economics.
 
Cecilia Edström owns 243,264 B shares in Bactiguard.
 
Stefan Grass has extensive clinical experience as a physician and researcher, combined with senior positions in the pharmaceutical industry. In October 2019 he was appointed to a newly established, global role as Chief Medical and Technology Officer of Bactiguard.
 
Stefan Grass was born in 1972 and holds a medical degree from the Karolinska Institute and is specialized in anaesthesia and intensive care. He has a PhD in neurophysiology, with focus on pain from the Karolinska University Hospital and has been active at the cardiothoracic department, among others.
 
The Nomination Committee in Bactiguard consists of Jan Ståhlberg (Chairman of the Board of Directors), Helena Borglund, appointed by KK Invest and Chairman of the Nomination Committee, Thomas von Koch, appointed by Bactiguard B.V., Mats J Andersson, appointed by Nordea Investment Funds and Per Colleen, appointed by The Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund (AP4). Together they represent 66 percent of the capital and 83,6 percent of the votes in Bactiguard.