The biotechnology company Aker BioMarine is strengthening its Group management. Hogne Vik has been appointed Group EVP in charge of the Pharma business area. Sjur Tveite has been appointed Group EVP for the Aquaculture & Animal business area. Aaron Kramer is the Group’s new EVP for Strategy & Business Development.
Aker BioMarine has built a decisive organization throughout its value chain – from krill harvesting to the sale of high-value products to nutraceutical and aquaculture market customers.
– I am proud of the crew we have onboard; they provide Aker BioMarine with unique, state-of-the-art expertise in core disciplines. We now have a complete Group management team with the right know-how and experience to advance our specialized business niches. Aker BioMarine will become the world’s leading marine biotechnology company, says Aker BioMarine’s President and CEO Helge Midttun.
Aker BioMarine currently has 600 employees, of whom 550 work outside of Norway. In the past six months, a total of 15 staffers have joined the company in research and development, business development, sales, and marketing.
Hogne Vik (54) joins Aker BioMarine from his previous position as Senior Vice President, Medical & Regulatory Affairs and Research & Development at Pronova Biopharma. Mr. Vik has extensive industrial managerial experience in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. He is medical doctor with a doctorate in immunology and allergies. Hogne Vik has worked as a laboratory physician, is a specialist in medical biochemistry, and was an adjunct professor of medicine (professor II) at the University of Bergen, Norway. Vik holds an MBA degree from the Norwegian School of Management.
Sjur Tveite (41) joins Aker BioMarine from his previous position as markets and business development director at AKVAFORSK, a world-leading aquaculture research institution. He has broad commercial expertise in biotechnology, aquaculture, and agriculture, and has worked closely with the worldwide animal feed industry and international food producers. Sjur Tveite is a graduate of Norges Landbrukshøgskole (now, the Norwegian University of Life Sciences), where he specialized in animal and aquaculture sciences.
“With Hogne Vik and Sjur Tveite joining our team, we can aggressively target international growth markets. Aker BioMarine’s own krill meal brand, Qrill™, has already demonstrated significant, documented beneficial effects when added to fish feed. In the first quarter of 2008, we will launch our first brand name product for the dietary supplement market. We have great expectations of developing a bioactive ingredient derived from krill for the pharmaceutical market,” says Midttun.
Hogne Vik and Sjur Tveite will begin their work at Aker BioMarine by early January 2008. As of that time, Aker BioMarine’s management team will comprise the following members: President and CEO Helge Midttun, Group EVPs Nils Brendemo (CFO), Trond Williksen (Operations), Jostein Dalland (Nutrition & Health), Sjur Tveite (Aquaculture & Animal), Hogne Vik (Pharma), and Aaron Kramer (Strategy & Business Development).
