Novo’s main shareholder pushes out more than half of company’s board

Dive Brief:

Novo Nordisk’s largest investor said Tuesday it wants to replace more than half of the drugmaker’s board, calling an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in November to install a handpicked slate of candidates.

The election of new candidates is necessary because the current board was “too slow in recognizing” changes in the obesity drug market, said Lars Rebien Sørensen, chair of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. That pace, Sørensen added, led to lagging growth for the weight loss shot Wegovy, which resulted in large-scale layoffs announced in September.

Board Chair Helge Lund, Vice Chair Henrik Poulsen and five independent members will not stand for election at the meeting. Four employee-elected board members will remain, along with Kasim Kutay, CEO of Novo Holdin