In This Article:
The boss of the drugs giant Novo Nordisk has been sacked after falling behind in the global race to develop weight-loss medication.
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said he was “surprised” that the Ozempic-maker’s largest shareholder, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, had decided to remove him.
“I did not see this coming,” he told told Danish broadcaster TV2.
Under Mr Jørgensen’s leadership, Novo Nordisk for a time became Europe’s most valuable company amid sky-rocketing sales of its treatments, which include Wegovy.
Its fast-paced growth also saw it give a significant boost to Denmark’s gross domestic product (GDP).
However, shares in the business have fallen more than 50pc over the past year, wiping around 2.2 trillion Danish krone (£244bn) off its market valuation, amid intensifying competition in the obesity drug market.
Shares fell as much as 4.6pc on Friday after the announcement of Mr Jørgensen’s impending departure.
The company said: “Considering the recent market challenges, the share price decline, and the wish from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Novo Nordisk board and Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen have jointly concluded that initiating a CEO succession is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders.”
Mr Jørgensen will continue in the job to “support a smooth transition to new leadership”, with the search for a successor under way.
Lukas Leu, portfolio manager at Novo shareholder Bellevue Asset Management, said the chief executive’s departure was “unexpected and not too good”.
Evan Seigerman, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, said he was “not surprised” by the move after the decline in Novo’s share prices but warned it was “less clear on how a new CEO will be able to address these challenges”.
Novo Nordisk has been rocked by a series of setbacks in recent months, including underwhelming results in a trial for its next-generation obesity drug.
It emerged in December that a late-stage trial for its CagriSema drug showed lower-than-expected weight loss, dealing a blow to its attempts to release a more effective successor to its Wegovy weight-loss jab.
Meanwhile, on Sunday US rival Eli Lilly revealed its drug Zepbound was superior to Wegovy across five weight-loss targets such as reducing waist circumference, following a head-to-head trial.
Zepbound helped nearly 25pc more participants lose more than 15pc of their weight compared to Wegovy, Lilly said.
Novo Nordisk responded by saying “obesity is about more than just a number on a scale”, adding that Wegovy is the only medicine in its class that is approved to prevent major cardiovascular events such as heart attack.