Novo Nordisk to replace chair and most of its board at Nov. 14 vote

Novo Nordisk will get a new board chair and a largely rebuilt board after its controlling shareholder and its sitting directors could not agree on how to reshape the company's leadership. The Novo Nordisk Foundation, which holds more than 70% of the drugmaker's shareholder votes through its subsidiary Novo Holdings, announced on Oct. 21, 2025 that it would put forward its own slate at an extraordinary general meeting on Nov. 14, 2025 ^[1][4].

Chair Helge Lund, vice chair Henrik Poulsen and independent directors Laurence Debroux, Andreas Fibig, Sylvie Grégoire, Christina Law and Martin Mackay will not stand for election at that meeting ^[3][4]. Reuters counted the departures as the chair plus six independent directors ^[2]. Staying on are Kasim Kutay, chief executive of Novo Holdings, and four board members elected by employees: Elisabeth Dahl Christensen, Liselotte Hyveled, Mette Bøjer Jensen and Thomas Rantzau ^[1][3].

The Foundation's nominees are Lars Rebien Sørensen, 71, as chair; Cees de Jong, 64, as vice chair; and Britt Meelby Jensen, 52, Mikael Dolsten, 67, and Stephan Engels, 63, as members ^[1][2]. Reuters lists Sørensen and Meelby Jensen as not independent, and describes de Jong, Dolsten and Engels as independent ^[2]. Sørensen ran Novo Nordisk as chief executive from 2000 to 2016 and has chaired the Foundation since 2018; he will give up the chairmanship of Novo Holdings, which will name a successor ^[1][2]. He joined the Novo Nordisk board as an observer earlier this year while the company searched for a new chief executive ^[2].

The Foundation wants Sørensen to hold the chair for a limited stretch of two to three years with two jobs: helping the current management team carry out its transformation plans and finding a longer-term chair to lead the company into the 2030s ^[1]. BioPharma Dive reported the Foundation described his term as no more than three years ^[4].

Both sides said they agreed on strategy but not on how much of the board should change. Lund said the directors wanted to keep continuity while adding a few new skills, whereas the Foundation sought "a more extensive reconfiguration" ^[1][3]. Sørensen said the Foundation wanted faster decisions and that the board was slow to grasp shifts in the U.S. market, and he said the two sides also split over how quickly to name a chief executive ^[3]. At a press conference he called the situation "a huge failure" and said it was "hugely disrupting" to let so many employees go ^[4].

The vote caps a rough stretch for the company. Mike Doustdar replaced Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen as CEO in August ^[2][3][4]. In September, Novo said it would eliminate about 9,000 positions, roughly 11.5% of its global workforce, and shift spending toward diabetes and obesity ^[3][4]. Wegovy has lost ground to Eli Lilly's Zepbound and to compounded copies sold during manufacturing shortages ^[4]. Novo's Copenhagen-listed shares closed the announcement day down 1.3% ^[3].

Why it matters for patients

Boards at drug companies set broad direction on research budgets, manufacturing capacity and pricing, so who sits on them can eventually shape what reaches pharmacies and insurance negotiations. Nothing announced described changes to approved medicines. Novo Nordisk makes Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, which all contain semaglutide, and no change to their labels, supply or coverage was disclosed ^[1][2][3][4]. Whether the reshuffle affects refills or coverage decisions has not been reported.

Because the Foundation's voting power exceeds 70%, its nominees are expected to win election, and BioPharma Dive called the outcome a likely formality ^[1][4]. For now the visible change is governance rather than products.

What happens next

Shareholders vote at the extraordinary general meeting on Nov. 14, 2025 ^[1][3]. At the annual general meeting on March 26, 2026, the Foundation plans to nominate Helena Saxon and one additional person for the board ^[1][2]. Beyond Sørensen's stated two-to-three-year window, no timetable has been disclosed for choosing his successor ^[1].