(Reuters) -Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer’s former research and development chief, has withdrawn his candidacy for Novo Nordisk’s board, citing personal reasons, the Danish drugmaker said on Thursday.
Dolsten, who led Pfizer’s R&D operations until earlier this year, informed Novo that he would not seek election at Thursday’s extraordinary general meeting.
He has previously held senior R&D roles at Boehringer Ingelheim and AstraZeneca.
The other board candidates standing for election remain unchanged from the Oct. 21 meeting notice, Novo Nordisk said.
The development comes as Novo Nordisk’s top investor, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, in October moved to take control of the drugmaker’s board, vowing a sharper focus on the key U.S. market to revive sales of blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy as Novo’s chair and six independent board members quit.
The company is also facing a shareholder backlash as its minority investors prepare a protest vote against a board shake-up forced through by its dominant shareholder.
(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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