DENMARK — Novo Nordisk has announced that Jeppe Christiansen will not stand for re-election as member of the Board at the AGM to be held on 23 March 2023.

The Board has instead proposed re-election of Laurence Debroux, Andreas Fibig, Sylvie Grégoire, Kasim Kutay, Christina Law, and Martin Mackay as members of the Board.

Jeppe Christiansen has had a long-standing association with Novo Nordisk where he has been serving as Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

He was first elected to the Board in 2013 and has been re-elected several times since. Most recently, he was re-elected to the Board in 2021.

In 2017, Mr. Christiansen was appointed as the Chair of the Remuneration Committee, a critical role that oversees the company’s compensation policies and practices.

He has been the Chief Executive Officer of Maj Invest Holding and Executive Director of two wholly-owned subsidiaries of the company, all based in Denmark.

Mr. Christiansen has special competencies in healthcare and pharma industry, finance and accounting, business development, mergers and acquisitions, external innovation sourcing, human capital management, and environmental, social and governance (ESG).

With his vast experience and expertise, Mr. Christiansen serves on the board of several leading Danish companies, including Novo Holdings, KIRKBI, Pluto Naturfonden, and Randers Regnskov.

He is also a member of the Board of Governors of Det Kgl. Vajsenhus, Denmark, and a board member of BellaBeat Inc., US.

Before his current roles, Mr. Christiansen held several other high-profile positions, including CEO of LD Pensions from 2005 to 2009.

He also worked as an Executive Director at Danske Bank from 1999 to 2004, where he was responsible for group equity business and corporate international banking.

Big gains in diabetes and obesity care

In other news, Novo Nordisk has reported a 22% YoY increase in Q4 revenues to US$7.1 billion, with profits of US$1.9 billion, beating consensus estimates.

Full-year revenues were US$25.4 billion, up 26% YoY, and profits were US$8.0 billion, up 16% YoY. GLP-1 diabetes therapies led with US$3.5 billion in sales, and the new obesity care segment grew 123% YoY.

Despite supply constraints, the pipeline remains robust, with a US$4 billion stock buyback program and US$1.78 per share dividends for 2022.

The company has US$24 billion in cash, US$26 billion in debt, and targets a US$165 share price.

Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk’s CEO, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, has issued an apology for violating the UK industry code by not disclosing the company’s sponsorship of obesity and weight management training courses for healthcare professionals that promoted its weight loss drug.

Jorgensen expressed the company’s regret for the missing branding in a LinkedIn post promoting online weight loss webinars and e-learning modules that Novo Nordisk sponsored between February 2020 and December 2021.

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