Alejandra Mørk steps down as CEO of KLIFO – Rasmus Nelund appointed new CEO

KLIFO, a leading North European drug development consultancy, has announced today that Alejandra Mørk has taken the decision to step down as CEO. KLIFO has appointed Rasmus Nelund as the new CEO as of 1 May 2023. Alejandra Mørk will step into a new role as senior client advisor and Board member.

Two years ago, a new phase in KLIFO’s development journey began when Alejandra Mørk sold the majority stake in KLIFO to Gilde Healthcare to facilitate the next steps in KLIFO’s expansion.

“Today, KLIFO is a strong, well-established North-European end to end drug development consultancy, and we still have so much potential. Now the time is right to take a significant step forward and pass the CEO baton to Rasmus Nelund. I look forward to stepping into new roles at KLIFO as senior client advisor and Board member while also freeing up time for my other professional commitments,” said Alejandra Mørk.

Rasmus Nelund joins KLIFO with more than 20 years of experience as a leader in the international life sciences industry. For the last 10 years, as Corporate Vice President at NNIT A/S, Rasmus led the company’s strong international growth by supporting life sciences companies in their business transformation fuelled by technological change. He did this in senior leadership positions focusing on customer success, strategic execution, M&A and organisational development. Before joining NNIT, he co-founded the Clinical IT consulting company Herax A/S and served as CEO at Pipeline Biotech A/S, a CRO, specialised in preclinical research services.

“Rasmus is an experienced business leader with an excellent track record across small and corporate companies in the life science and IT consultancy industries. His expertise within transformational change and driving global growth makes him very well suited to contribute to KLIFO’s ambitions of becoming a leading international drug development consultancy”, said Alejandra Mørk.

“KLIFO has a strong reputation in the life science industry, and I’m very impressed with KLIFO’s culture, way of working and impressive development. I look forward tobuilding further on this great foundation together with KLIFO’s leadership team and its many committed employees”, says Rasmus Nelund.

The Chairman of KLIFO’s Board of Directors, Niels Peder Nielsen, said about the transition: “KLIFO embodies Alejandra’s ideas and leadership. Alejandra has inspired KLIFO’s fundamental business idea and culture, encompassing deep competencies in end to end drug development, collaboration, passion for clients and trust-based leadership. We respect her decision to step down and very much look forward to collaborating with Alejandra in her new roles. We cannot thank Alejandra enough; she has built a great company and legacy.”

He added: ”The Board and Gilde Healthcare are very excited to welcome Rasmus Nelund as CEO. Rasmus represents both continuity and renewal with his strong competencies to lead the development of KLIFO going forward. Rasmus’ extensive life sciences consulting background, his international growth experience and his culture-based leadership style will be a strong match and enabler to fulfilling the ambitions of KLIFO. We look forward to Rasmus working closely with KLIFO’s leaders and employees on KLIFO’s exciting onward journey”.

Over the past 15 years, KLIFO has grown from a small traditional CRO into a leading North European integrated drug development consultancy. KLIFO has offices in four European life science hubs and approximately 200 employees.

For more information:

Alejandra Mørk, +45 44 22 29 10
Rasmus Nelund, +45 30 79 64 11
Niels Peder Nielsen, Chairman of KLIFO’s Board of Directors, +45 41 72 79 41

About KLIFO A/S 

KLIFO was founded in Denmark as a Clinical Research Organisation (CRO) in 1994. In 2008, Alejandra Mørk acquired KLIFO and assumed the role of CEO. Today, KLIFO is an integrated North-European drug development consultancy partnering with pharmaceutical, biotech and medtech companies. KLIFO offers end to end solutions across all drug development areas, including strategic project management, regulatory affairs, clinical development, clinical trial supply, quality assurance (QA), Chemistry Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) development, non-clinical development and pharmacovigilance in relation to the development of pharmaceutical products. KLIFO has offices in four European life science hubs and employs approximately 200 highly skilled employees. The private equity fund, Gilde Healthcare, acquired the majority stake in KLIFO in 2021.