Press Release June 18, 2019: Orion Diagnostica appoints Juho Himberg as new CEO

Juho Himberg has been appointed new CEO of Orion Diagnostica. Currently the CEO of Orton, Juho Himberg starts in his new position on August 13th, 2019. Himberg has over 20 years of experience in international executive positions in the medtech and laboratory industries. Antti Koivula, Interim CEO since December 2018, will continue as CFO of Orion Diagnostica.

Orion Oyj sold Orion Diagnostica Oy to Axcel, a Nordic private equity company, in April 2018. Orion Diagnostica develops, manufactures and markets diagnostics point-of-care instruments and tests with a special expertise in infectious diseases, bone and soft tissue metabolism disorders and hygienic monitoring.

“Juho Himberg’s vast expertise in international med-tech further strengthens Orion Diagnostica’s position as a diagnostics expert and supports our international growth. Med-tech is a growing, constantly developing industry. The importance of promoting health and developing point-of-care diagnostics within healthcare is becoming increasingly important”, says Rolf Classon, the Chairman of the Board at Orion Diagnostica.

Orion Diagnostica’s strategic focus is on developing new innovative products and international growth in existing and new markets. The company has a strong position in the Nordic markets, Germany, Central Europe and China, and is making significant inroads into the large US market.

“Orion Diagnostica has a leading position in the Nordic markets as well as in many markets internationally. Finnish med-tech is highly regarded around the world. Juho Himberg is an excellent person to lead Orion Diagnostica in its pursuit for further international growth”, says Thomas Blomqvist, Partner at Axcel.

“Orion Diagnostica is a great example of Finnish med-tech succeeding in competitive international markets. Orion Diagnostica is a successful company and proud of its Finnish roots”, explains the newly appointed CEO Juho Himberg.

Juho Himberg has been the CEO of Orton since 2015. Prior to that, he worked in the international medtech and laboratory industries for 20 years, of which 15 in Switzerland. His background in Switzerland, the Netherlands and the US is well aligned with Orion Diagnostica’s international growth goals.

“As a stand-alone point-of-care specialized diagnostics company, Orion Diagnostica focuses fully on developing products and services for improving the well-being and the quality of life for people around the world. Our easy-to-use tests provide rapid, high quality and cost-effective results”, Himberg continues.

“In 2019, in addition to its growth goals, Orion Diagnostica has many important milestones with easy CRP and HbA1c launches and FDA approval in the US”, Classon concludes.


For more information

Juho Himberg, Mob: +358 40 660 5343
Rolf Classon, Chairman of the Board, Orion Diagnostica, Mob: +1 (914) 320 1188
Thomas Blomqvist, Partner, Axcel, Mob: +46 (709) 22 10 49

Orion Diagnostica
Orion Diagnostica is a leading point-of-care diagnostics company. Orion Diagnostica develops, manufactures and markets a range of reliable and easy to use instruments and tests. Through its sales force and high-quality distributor network, Orion Diagnostica delivers its innovative product range to healthcare practitioners in some 60 countries worldwide. Orion Diagnostica has an installed base over 50.000 QuikRead^® and QuikRead go^® instruments worldwide. The company has around 300 employees and is headquartered in Espoo, Finland.

Axcel Management
Axcel is a leading Nordic private equity firm in the mid-cap market with a focus on investing in strong Nordic market leaders. Since its inception over 25 years ago, Axcel has invested in well over 50 Nordic companies as well as consummated over 100 add-on acquisitions in the Nordic region and beyond.