LONDON (Reuters) -Wegovy-maker Novo Nordisk said on Friday its CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen will step down over concerns the company is losing its first-mover advantage in the highly competitive obesity drug market.
Here is reaction to the news:
LUKAS LEU, PORTFOLIO MANAGER AT BELLEVUE ASSET MANAGEMENT, WHICH OWNS NOVO SHARES:
“Seems like he’s been made redundant. He was leading the company for eight years and in my opinion that was extremely successful…Stock has been weak since mid-2024. That is unexpected and not too good.”
JP MORGAN:
“Overall, while the announcement of the CEO transition is unexpected, we believe this reflects decisive action from the Novo Nordisk Foundation to put Novo in the strongest position to capitalise on the GLP-1 (obesity/diabetes) market opportunity over the next 10 years.
JYSKE BANK ANALYST, HENRIK HALLENGREEN LAUSTSEN:
“Our first thoughts are that these are uncertainties that the Novo share does not need in the current situation. On the face of it, a negative price reaction makes sense, despite the recent challenges for Novo…They don’t need more uncertainty, they need a firm grip on the wheel.
“The Novo Nordisk Foundation is increasing its influence and has appointed its chairman, Lars Rebien Sørensen, as an observer on the Novo Nordisk Board of Directors for election in 2026. The changes are without any changes to the company’s strategy, according to Chairman Helge Lund.”
GOLDMAN SACHS
Obviously not great at first look, some early feedback pointing to the company acknowledging performance has not been acceptable and change was needed but will also call into question the inflection in scripts if and when that comes.
(Reporting by Maggie Fick in London and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen;Compiled by Josephine Mason; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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