More than two decades of steady CRO growth

With a strong foothold in the Nordics, LINK Medical has over the years succeed in continued organic growth and is looking to grow even further with the acquisition of biometrics expertise.

LINK Medical, a Nordic and Northern European contract research organisation (CRO) looks to continued growth in the years to come. The company was founded in 1995 by CEO, Ola Gudmundsen, Ph.D., with a strong Scandinavian culture and based on solid values. Through the years the company has developed a unique way of working based on four distinct, yet integrated pillars:  Competences, agility, technology, and integrity.

Ola Gudmundsen explains:

-We are committed to providing top competence in clinical development to deliver optimal solutions faster. Moreover, we constantly assess best practices to find smart ways of working, using highly sophisticated technological solutions and data handling processes, for accurate delivery of high-quality data. Our agility as a partner in clinical development revolves around the true value our deliveries have for our customers. The integrity comes from offering our customers the access to our expert guidance for optimal decision-making, through rigorous evidence-based documentation, he says.

Taking complete vendor responsibility for regulatory guidance and clinical conduct and management interacting with customers on a strategic level requires us to be able to provide solid advice that will create value for customers and allow them to make the optimal decisions.

He stresses that the recent acquisition of PCG Clinical Services AB in Uppsala, Sweden was a perfect match for us since it strengthened key service areas. For example, the strong competencies in biometrics was a significant complement to our core business and filled in the competence gap that we had in the area. By now we are a full-service CRO in Northern Europe providing a wide range of services for pharmaceutical and medical device industries, Ola Gudmundsen says.

He also comments that competences are far from just a matter of acquisition or hiring new people:

-Keeping competences at the highest level involves all parts of our business. We constantly review our procedures, check up our onboarding processes, and update our internal training and education at the top level as well as throughout the organisation.

Regulatory is key

The regulatory department readily counts 45 employees, reflecting that regulatory guidance is essential for the customers throughout clinical development. LINK Medical conducts mostly phase 1, 2 and 4 clinical trials. Interestingly, smaller, and intelligent study design setups in oncology studies phase 3 are increasingly finding their way to the Nordic countries.

-Oncology trials generate a lot of projects – and the Nordics is a great place to conduct these type of trials, Ola Gudmundsen says.

-The centres are able to recruit the patients, they have access to the facilities and to advanced labs, and very often the departments are part of larger research institutions with improved access to some of the best academic capacities.

LINK Medical is thus primarily operating in the Nordics.

-We have a strong foothold here, our corporate spirit is reflected in the way things are done in Scandinavia. While being perfectly able to conduct smaller trials in a wider set up on mainland Europe, it is by far the Scandinavian countries that remain our home turf. This is where we are industry experts, Ola Gudmundsen points out.

He believes that the strong Scandinavian anchoring is also part of the explanation of the company’s strong position as a strategic partner.

Looking to the future, Ola Gudmundsen acknowledges that a continuous focus on improved processes is a top priority.

-We constantly work on ways to reduce costs and make the most of technologic solutions. We do this to ensure that we consistently deliver high-quality services at a good price level in order to maintain our competitive edges, while still adding value to the business itself as well as to our customers, he ends.

About LINK Medical

• LINK Medical is a full-service CRO for biotech, pharma, and MedTech in Scandinavia
• Has 168 employees, servicing customers from offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Malmö, Copenhagen, UK, and Berlin
• Provides services within all aspects of life cycle management from preclinical to market access
• For more information http://linkmedical.no

Contact information:
Ola Gudmundsen, CEO, LINK Medical Mobile: +47 92 46 22 00
ola@linkmedical.no