Crisis at the top of the pharmaceutical giant that produces the most used slimming drug, following a strategic conflict: “A common understanding was not possible”
Medicines for the treatment of diabetes and weight loss, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, in a pharmacy in The Hague, Netherlands, on July 4, 2025. PHOTO: Utrecht Robin/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia
The chairman of Wegovy drug giant Novo Nordisk and six other independent board members will step down next month following a conflict over strategy with the drug company's majority shareholder, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Reuters reports.
The company announced on Tuesday that Helge Lund and the other independent directors will resign at an extraordinary shareholder meeting to be held on November 14.
The Foundation announced that it will nominate Lars Rebien Sorensen, the former CEO of Novo and the current Chairman of the Foundation, as the interim chairman of the drugmaker for a period of two to three years.
Novo fired CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen in May amid concerns that the company was losing its pioneering edge in the highly competitive weight-loss drug market. His replacement has launched a restructuring program that includes cutting 9,000 jobs.
“Given the rapidly changing environment in which Novo Nordisk operates, we believe it is in the best interests of the company and its shareholders to bring about a renewal of the board as soon as possible, rather than waiting until the annual general meeting in March next year,” Sorensen said in a statement.
In a separate statement, Lund said it was “not possible to reach a common understanding” with the Foundation.
“The board proposed a renewal focused on adding selected new competencies while maintaining continuity, while the Foundation board wanted a more extensive reconfiguration,” he said, without elaborating.
Lund was chairman of the board of Novo Nordisk as of 2018.
Novo Nordisk markets the drug Ozempic to treat diabetes, while the drug Wegovy is approved for weight loss. Both pharmaceutical products contain the same active ingredient, semaglutide.
The Novo company, from Denmark, is a world leader in the production of insulin and drugs for the treatment of diabetes. Ozempic is currently the company's best-selling drug in terms of global revenue.
