Novo Nordisk has announced that seven members of its board of directors will stand down from their roles.
This includes board chair Helge Lund, vice-chair Henrik Poulsen and five independent board members, who will not stand for election at an upcoming general meeting.
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This strategic oversight shakeup comes amid a dispute between the board and its majority shareholder, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which could not “reach a common understanding” on the board’s future composition, Lund said in a statement.
During prior negotiations, members proposed that select, new competencies were added to revitalise the board, while maintaining continuity in its activity. However, the Novo Nordisk Foundation took a different stance, requesting a “more extensive reconfiguration”.
As the Novo Nordisk Foundation has the majority control over voting in this setting, the board concluded that a meeting would need to be held to elect new members, which Lund stated would “help to provide clarity on the future governance” of the company.
Following this meeting and the subsequent proposed selection of new board members, Novo Holdings CEO Kasim Kutay will remain on the board alongside four employee-elected members. This includes Liselotte Hyveled, Mette Bøjer Jensen, Elisabeth Dahl Christensen, and Thomas Rantzau.
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By GlobalDataMeanwhile, the Novo Nordisk Foundation has already put some names forward for the soon-to-be-filled positions. In a 21 October statement, the Danish enterprise foundation called for the election of Lars Rebien Sørensen as board chair and Cees de Jong as vice-chair.
Novo Nordisk navigates troubled waters
Novo Nordisk’s board shakeup comes amid a tumultuous time for the company, as it grapples with the waning sales growth of its obesity and diabetes portfolio. This comes amid fierce glucagon-like peptide receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) competition from rival, Eli Lilly.
Following the dip in sales growth experienced by Ozempic and Wegovy (semaglutide), Novo Nordisk cut 11% of its global workforce while forecasting that its full-year sales growth will sit at between 8% and 14%, rather than the company’s already amended rate of 13% to 21%.
Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are racing to get their respective oral weight loss drugs orforglipron and oral semaglutide to market. If these drugs were to be approved, it would further intensify the rivalry in the rapidly growing obesity sector, which Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk dominate with their respective subcutaneous GLP-1Ras, Zepbound (tirzepatide) and Wegovy (semaglutide).
It appears that Novo Nordisk may have the first-to-market advantage over Eli Lilly with oral semaglutide, having already had its new drug application (NDA) for the oral medication accepted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May. However, Eli Lilly may have the upper hand in terms of efficacy, as orforglipron bested oral semaglutide in a recent head-to-head trial.
