NVO Novo Nordisk

   By Dominic Chopping 
 

The chief executive of Denmark's Novo Nordisk A/S (NOVO-B.KO) is retiring at the end of the year after 16 years in the job, the pharmaceutical company said on Thursday.

Lars Rebien Sorensen, a 34-year Novo Nordisk veteran, will step down from his position on Dec. 31 to be replaced by Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, currently the company's head of corporate development and himself a 25-year Novo Nordisk employee.

The appointment of a company veteran to succeed Mr. Sorensen signals that the handover won't bring about a dramatic shift in strategy. Mr. Sorensen was a long-time employee of the company prior to his own appointment as chief executive in 2000 and is known for adopting a consensual stance as chief executive.

That stability is underpinned by the company's ownership: The Novo Nordisk Foundation owns 27.5% of the capital but holds three-quarters of voting rights.

Still, Mr. Jorgensen will take the reins at a challenging time. While demand for diabetes medicine is soaring--the disease affects nearly 400 million people world-wide according to the International Diabetes Federation--competition is intensifying in its key U.S. market.

That has enabled payers to demand deeper discounts from insulin makers, a dynamic which last month forced Novo Nordisk to cut its full-year guidance to the lower end of its previously announced range.

Mr. Sorensen will now be nominated to join the board of directors of the Novo Nordisk Foundation and Novo A/S next year.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation awards grants, while Novo A/S, the Foundation's wholly owned subsidiary, manages the Foundation's commercial activities. The objective of Novo A/S is to manage the Foundation's endowment and its controlling interests in Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S.

"With the competences and experience that Lars Rebien Sorensen has, we found it obvious to ask him to consider standing for election to the boards of directors of the Novo Nordisk Foundation and Novo A/S," said Sten Scheibye, Chairman of Novo Nordisk Foundation and Novo A/S.

"Lars Rebien Sorensen has agreed to take on this dual responsibility."

-Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com; Twitter: @domchopping @WSJNordics

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 01, 2016 05:25 ET (09:25 GMT)

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