Novo Nordisk should look at the US for its next CEO, says analysts

* Novo said on Friday his current CEO will decline * The obesity drug manufacturer has struggled to compete against US rival Eli Lilly * American CEO could be better to go with a Trump administrator, analysts said by Patrick Wingrove and Maggie Fick on May 16 -such as Denemarke’s Novo Nordis to replace Lars Fruply for his next CEO. -Replace lead Jorgensen, it should look over the Atlantic Ocean. In the United States, by far its largest market, analysts told Reuters. Novo, which produces the popular weight loss drug Wegovy, said on Friday that the current CEO will overcome the concern that the company is losing its lead in the highly competitive medicine for obesity. Financial analysts Reuters said an American could be better placed to deal with a Trump administration, which rewrites the rules on pharmaceutical trade, manufacturing, regulation and drug prices. The Danish drug maker has become a world leader in the weight loss drug market under Jorgensen’s leadership, but in the US, the largest market for this medicine and where they are most profitable, it struggled against American competitor Eli Lilly. Novo went head-to-head at the Indianapolis Company for clients, signed contracts with insurers and launched a direct-to-consumer offering to match Lilly’s obesity drug Zepbound. But prescriptions of Zepbound exceeded that of Wegovy this year by more than 100,000 a week. Clinical tests show that medicine offers weight loss of 15% to 20%, although a Lilly-managed head-to-head test found that Zepbound was more effective than awayvy over five weight loss targets. The Danish drug maker needs someone who understands the US system better because they “did not compete to the same extent as Lilly has … and it certainly feels like they have a competitive disadvantage,” said Barclays analyst Emily Field. Novo, the largest drug manufacturer of Denmark, had only five CEOs in its 102 -year history, all Danish, and the name of a US CEO would be a departure. Jorgensen’s predecessor, Lars Rebien Sorensen, who will now join the board in an observer role, had the best post from 2000 to 2016. Mads Ovlisen was in charge from 1981 to 2000. Novo managers said on Friday with investors on a call that they would look at both internal and external candidates and that the search continued. When asked if a US CEO was needed, Jorgensen told Reuters: “I think we have a brilliant president of our American organization who is an American and has been in the industry for a long time, and I think we are very well covered there.” He referred to the head of the US company, Executive Vice President David Moore, who replaced Doug Langa last year. Three of the largest European pharmaceutical businesses – Roche, Bayer and Novartis – all European CEOs, pointed out Berenberg’s analyst Kerry Holford, which indicates that Novo should consider it. The fact that no successor has been announced may show a preference for an external candidate this time, said Yuri Khodjamirian, investment officer of theme ETFS. Morningstar analyst Karen Andersen said that Novo traditionally chooses long-term insiders for the CEO, but said from Novo: “I think it can look external, given how dynamic the market becomes so many levels.” The US market Trump, who has had a promise to promote domestic manufacturing, has since put pressure on drugs since taking office to move medicine production to the US, which threatens sector-specific rates on the industry. The Trump administration singled out Novo’s Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound as targets in its pressure to lower the prices of prescription prescriptions. The US pays the most for drugs in the world, often almost three times that of other developed countries, and Trump said it wants to close it. In the midst of these challenges, analysts said, Lilly benefited from the connections that his CEO, David Ricks, built with the Trump administration. Ricks, who is chairman of the lobby group Phrma in 2020, and CEOs of other major drugs such as Pfizer – the current head of the group – have met with Trump several times since December. Former Lilly CEO Alex Azar served as US Secretary of Health and Human Services during Trump’s first term. Jorgensen, who is one of the shortest CEOs at Novo Nordisk after eight years in the role, told Reuters on Friday that he had not yet met with Trump but had met with Trump administration officials. “Dave Ricks knows how to meet this moment. He understands when to push and when to withdraw,” said Evan Sigerman, BMO analyst, referring to the familiarity of the CEO with American politics. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without edits to text.