Novo Nordisk Leadership Resigns Amid Governance Dispute with Foundation

Novo Nordisk Chairman Helge Lund, Vice Chairman Henrik Poulsen, and five independent directors announced Tuesday, October 21st, that they will leave the Danish pharmaceutical company due to disagreements with the Novo Nordisk Foundation, its majority shareholder.

For its part, the Novo Nordisk Foundation has announced the convening of an extraordinary general meeting to elect new members of its Board of Directors

The Novo Nordisk Foundation agrees with this decision and proposes new members for election, including Lars Rebien Sørensen as Chairman and Cees de Jong as Deputy Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors. Rebien Sørensen is the current Chairman of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, a position he will continue to hold. At the extraordinary general meeting of Novo Nordisk A/S, to be held on November 14, the Foundation will propose the following candidates for election to the company’s Board of Directors:

The board will be composed as follows: Lars Rebien Sørensen, Chairman; Cees de Jong, Vice Chairman; Britt Meelby Jensen, Member; Mikael Dolsten, Member; Stephan Engels, Member;
Kasim Kutay; and the employee-elected board members Elisabeth Dahl Christensen, Liselotte Hyveled, Mette Bøjer Jensen, and Thomas Rantzau will remain on the board.

In addition, the Foundation plans to propose Helena Saxon and an additional member for election to the Novo Nordisk Board of Directors at the company’s Annual General Meeting, to be held on March 26, 2026.

The decision to convene an extraordinary general meeting was made by the Novo Nordisk Board following a discussion with the Novo Nordisk Foundation on the future composition of the Board. The Novo Nordisk Board proposed a renewal “focused on the addition of selected new competencies while maintaining continuity, while the Foundation Board desired a broader reconfiguration of the Board.”

Lars Rebien Sørensen added: “I would like to thank the Novo Nordisk Board of Directors for setting the course and ensuring the company’s governance during years of unprecedented growth.” Lars Rebien Sørensen will remain Chairman of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, a position he has held since 2018, but will step down as Chairman of Novo Holdings A/S, the Foundation’s investment company.

For his part, Helge Lund stated that “following discussions with the Novo Nordisk Foundation regarding the future composition of the board, no consensus was reached .” “After thorough deliberation and considering the Foundation’s position and its majority control, the board concluded that it is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders to convene an extraordinary general meeting to elect new members and clarify the future governance of Novo Nordisk,” he explained.

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First published in diariofarma. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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