Dive Transient:
- Novo Nordisk’s largest investor stated Tuesday it needs to exchange greater than half of the drugmaker’s board, calling a rare common assembly of shareholders in November to put in a handpicked slate of candidates.
- The election of recent candidates is important as a result of the present board was “too sluggish in recognizing” adjustments within the weight problems drug market, stated Lars Rebien Sørensen, chair of the Novo Nordisk Basis. That tempo, Sørensen added, led to lagging development for the burden loss shot Wegovy, which resulted in large-scale layoffs introduced in September.
- Board Chair Helge Lund, Vice Chair Henrik Poulsen and 5 unbiased members won’t stand for election on the assembly. 4 employee-elected board members will stay, together with Kasim Kutay, CEO of Novo Holdings. The muse is proposing Sørensen as company board chair, for a time period of not more than three years.
Dive Perception:
The Novo Basis, by way of its subsidiary Novo Holdings, owns 25% of the shares and 70% of the votes in Novo Nordisk, making the election of its designees a probable formality when buyers collect for the Nov. 14 assembly.
The board adjustments come amid a interval of turmoil for Novo, which has lately seen underperforming gross sales, a layoff of 9,000 employees, and a CEO turnover with Maziar Mike Doustdar taking the helm in August. That adopted a interval the place the corporate’s dominant place within the quickly rising weight problems therapy market was undercut by competitors from Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and drug compounders — who seized on manufacturing capability constraints to efficiently promote low cost knockoff variations of each medicine.
“It is a big failure, and I believe many within the firm should take a look at themselves, each within the firm, within the administration and within the board and [ask what] now we have achieved otherwise to keep away from this?” stated Sørensen, who was Novo Nordisk’s CEO from 2000 to 2016, in a press convention to debate the final assembly. “As a result of it’s massively disrupting to should let go of that many individuals.”
In an announcement, Lund stated the present board had proposed a “renewal” targeted on the “addition of choose, new competencies whereas additionally sustaining continuity, whereas the board of the muse needed a extra in depth reconfiguration.”
Lund added that the board, after a “thorough deliberation,” finally decided “it’s in the very best curiosity of the corporate and its shareholders to convene a rare common assembly to elect new board members to supply readability on the longer term governance of Novo Nordisk.”
Moreover Lund and Poulsen, unbiased members Laurence Debroux, Andreas Fibig, Sylvie Grégoire, Christina Legislation and Martin Mackay received’t stand for election. Of their place, the muse has proposed Cees de Jong, board chair of Novonesis, because the Novo Nordisk vice chair, and Britt Meelby Jensen, Mikael Dolsten and Stephan Engels as members.
On the subsequent common common assembly in 2026, the muse can even nominate Helena Saxon and one different individual as board members.
