Karolinska Development has announced that CEO Torbjörn Bjerke leaves the company.

Bjerke will be replaced by Klaus Wilgenbus until a new permanent CEO has been appointed. Torbjörn Bjerke leaves his position as CEO on September 30, 2014, and Klaus Wilgenbus steps down from his Board position in Karolinska Development and assumes his new duties with immediate effect.

Karolinska Development states that the company has now initiated a search for a permanent CEO.

“The Board has concluded that we need to optimize and unlock the full value of our existing assets by focusing on the portfolio companies which in the short and medium term can reach significant value inflexion points, by changing the governance structure of the portfolio companies and by developing a new, more stringent investment strategy. With a new strategy and a new leadership I am confident that we will be able to realize the true potential of Karolinska Development and its portfolio companies,” says Karolinska Developmernt’s Chairman Bo Jesper Hansen in a comment.