Medivir has announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Yilmaz Mahshid as the new CEO of the company.

Yilmaz Mahshid has long and broad experience from qualified roles in the life science sector, the company states. He succeeds Uli Hacksell, who has been CEO since October 2018. Mahshid will assume his position in the fall. Uli Hacksell remains as a board member of Medivir.

“I believe that Yilmaz will be perfect as new CEO of Medivir. He is extremely qualified and has the background, drive and strategic thinking that our exciting company needs. I will stay on as CEO until Yilmaz takes over. Shortly after the handover I will return to function solely as a board member, but I will of course be available as a sparring partner whenever Yilmaz so wishes,” says Uli Hacksell, CEO at Medivir.

Began his career as a researcher

Yilmaz Mahshid joins Medivir from his recent position as CFO at PledPharma. He was prior to that Investment Manager at Industrifonden. He has also worked as a health care analyst at Pareto Securities and at Öhman Fondkommission. Yilmaz holds a doctorate from the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at Karolinska Institute. He began his career as a researcher at the Karolinska Institute followed by the pharmaceutical companies Biolipox and Orexo.

“Uli Hacksell assumed leadership responsibility for Medivir as acting CEO in the fall of 2018 in conjunction with the strengthened focus on clinical cancer projects and a comprehensive restructuring of the company. Uli has invested enormous energy in shaping and developing Medivir into the company it is today. When we looked for Uli’s successor, important parameters were experience, a strong scientific foundation, knowledge and insight about the industry as well as the investor perspective. In Yilmaz Mahshid we have found what we were looking for and it is my great pleasure to welcome him to Medivir,” says Helena Levander, Chairman of Medivir’s Board of Directors.