Bavarian Nordic hires Tommi Kainu as executive vice president, chief business officer

Tommi Kainu was recently named executive vice president and chief business officer at Bavarian Nordic effective July 1, where he will oversee operations in both commercial and government affairs, along with various business development initiatives.

Kainu’s new role will be based at Bavarian Nordic’s headquarters in Denmark, reporting to company CEO Paul Chaplin.

“Tommi is the ideal candidate to join Bavarian Nordic at this time,” Chaplin said. “Managing a portfolio as large and diverse as ours, with multiple partners across pharma and government, requires an individual with an exceptional knowledge of the commercial landscape, as well as the scientific capabilities of our platform, Tommi has all these qualities.”

Kainu joins Bavarian Nordic after working at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for more than 20 years, serving as a partner and managing director in his time there. At BCG, Kainu led the strategy practice for the Nordic countries, while working with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in projects including government relations, portfolio strategy, product launches, and business development.

Prior to joining BCG, Kainu worked at the National Institutes of Health’s Cancer Genetics Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Kainu received both his M.D. and Ph.D degrees from the University of Tampere Medical School in Finland.