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BAGSVÆRD, Denmark — Lars Rebien Sørensen, president and chief executive officer of Novo Nordisk A/S, is retiring from the company and will be succeeded by Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen.
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen
Plans call for Jørgensen, executive vice president and head of corporate development, to take the CEO reins on Jan. 1, Novo Nordisk said Thursday. Sørensen is slated to retire by the end of this year.
“On the one hand, Novo Nordisk has never had a stronger portfolio and organisation. On the other hand, we are facing an unprecedented level of payer pressure and competition,” Jørgensen said in a statement. “I love challenges, and therefore I can’t think of a more exciting time to be offered the job of CEO in Novo Nordisk, a company I have served for more than 25 years and am really passionate about.”
Jørgensen joined Novo Nordisk in 1991 as an economist in health care, economy and planning and subsequently held overseas postings in the Netherlands, the United States and Japan. In 2004, he was named senior vice president for IT and corporate development. He became executive vice president and chief information officer in January 2013, assuming responsibility for IT, quality and corporate development. In November 2014, he added responsibilities for corporate people and organization and business assurance.
“The decision to appoint Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen as new CEO is the result of a rigorous process, during which a number of qualified candidates were considered. With his track record of creating results, driving change and being a role model for the Novo Nordisk Way of running a company, the board is confident that he is the perfect successor to Lars Rebien Sørensen,” stated Göran Ando, chairman of Novo Nordisk. “In his new role, he will be charged with leading Novo Nordisk through a time of extraordinary change in health care systems around the world.”
Sørensen has served as Novo Nordisk’s president and CEO since November 2000. He came to the company in 1982 and, over the years, held several overseas posts, including in the Middle East and the United States. He was appointed as a member of corporate management in May 1994, and in December of that year he was given special responsibility within corporate management for health care.
Lars Rebien Sørensen
“It has been an honor to work here for more than 30 years and to serve as CEO during a period where we have been able to grow our business, build a strong pipeline and launch important new products to the benefit of our patients, our shareholders and our employees,” Sørensen commented. “I have been closely involved in the assessments that have led to the board’s decision to appoint Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen as my successor, a decision which I fully support. He is a great businessman and people leader and has a natural ability to find solutions where others see problems.”
Novo Nordisk said the boards of the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the foundation’s holding company, Novo A/S, plan to nominate Sørensen as a member in March 2017.
Jørgensen’s successor as head of corporate development will be announced at a later date, the company said.
Other executive changes, effective immediately, also were announced on Thursday. Jakob Riis, executive vice president and head of Region China, Pacific & Marketing, has been named executive vice president and head of North America operations. He takes over from Jesper Høiland, who is stepping down from executive management and whose future role will be announced at a later date, the company said.
Maziar Mike Doustdar, executive vice president and head of international operations, has been given added responsibility for an expanded international operations unit, now covering all territories except for North America and organized in five regions: Europe; Latin America; Africa, Asia, Middle East and Oceania; Japan and Korea; and Region China.
Also stepping down from executive management is Jerzy Gruhn, executive vice president and head of Europe. Novo Nordisk said he will continue as head of Europe, now as senior vice president, and report to Doustdar.
