What now? This man is supposed to turn the gun for Novo Nordisk.

On a historically bad day for Novo Nordisk, the company lost 465 billion Danish crowns in market value yesterday.

The pharmaceutical giant expects less growth and had to adjust its forecast for the second time in a short period. This did not go unnoticed, and the stock price fell after a free fall to a minus of 23 percent.

However, almost simultaneously, they presented the new managing director, who will take over the reins in a few days and is expected to create positive headlines for Denmark's most valuable company.

His name is Maziar Mike Doustdar. An Iranian-born Austrian citizen, who grew up in the United States, but in reality, Novo Nordisk should probably be on the lookout after three decades in the company.

- I see him a little like a rock, who stood in the background, because he has always been there, says Hanne Sindbæk, who is a business journalist and author of the book 'The Clean - The Story of Novo Nordisk'.

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Novo Nordisks new managing director

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*Name:* Maziar Mike Doustdar.

*Born:* August 1970 (54 years old).

*Birthplace:* He is an Iranian-born Austrian citizen, but he grew up in the United States.

*Education:* Bachelor in marketing from Webster University in Vienna and a leadership program from Harvard Business School.

*Career:*

* He has been with Novo Nordisk for 33 years and started in 1992 as an office worker in Vienna.

* He has held a variety of positions within economics, IT, logistics, operations, and marketing and has lived in countries such as Greece, Turkey, and Malaysia.

* Since 2016, he has been the CEO of Novo Nordisk with responsibility for International Operations. Today, he is based in Switzerland.

* From August 7, he will take over the position as managing director of the pharmaceutical company.

Source: Ritzau

There had been much talk about whether a big name, who knew the American market very well, would be brought in from the right. However, this would not work in a company like Novo Nordisk, thinks the author.

- Novo Nordisk is forced to have a person who knows Novo Nordisk, and who is Novo Nordisk right in the core, says Hanne Sindbæk.

- It is a supertanker, and if you want to turn it now, you must understand the entire machinery. And he does.

The outgoing CEO Lars Fruergaard had spent a quarter of a century in the company before he became CEO in 2017.

Novo Nordisk's headquarters in Bagsværd will soon house a new managing director, who will set the course for 77,000 employees in Denmark's most valuable company. (Photo: © TOM LITTLE, Ritzau Scanpix)

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A new war rhetoric

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With another Novo-man at the helm, one can rightly ask: Is it more of the same?

However, Hanne Sindbæk certainly does not think so, as she can already see the first changes before he even starts.

- He has a completely different aggressive rhetoric and approach to his work, compared to Lars Fruergaard, says she.

She does not believe that people were dissatisfied with the former director Lars Fruergaard, who has lifted the company enormously since he took over, but in a hard competition on the pharmaceutical scene, it requires a change.

She highlights a quote from the new top manager in the press release, where Maziar Mike Doustdar was presented.

- I am taking on the task, which is pressing, with a sharp focus on high performance and an unshakable will to make Novo Nordisk aim higher than ever before, it sounded among other things in the carefully selected words from the incoming top manager.

Listen to Hanne Sindbæk read the example and comment on it here:

It had never been said by Lars Fruergaard, thinks the author.

- So, it is almost like a war rhetoric, he is running with, says she.

- He is at least aware that he is facing a hard, hard job, where there must be testosterone pumping.

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Challenges on the other side of the Atlantic

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The rhetoric has already been sharpened, but Novo Nordisk is also fighting a very hard battle on the other side of the Atlantic.

>

> The greatest challenge for the new director is clearly to win back some of what was lost on the American market

> Casper Schrøder, DR's economics correspondent

In the United States, the largest competitor on the pharmaceutical market is the company Eli Lilly, which also sees a good business in fat-medicine, which can match Novo Nordisk's products.

They have a considerable market share, and their focus has, according to Hanne Sindbæk, been more on the millions of customers who just want to lose weight, where Novo Nordisk has long been focused on patients who suffer from severe obesity.

- The greatest challenge for the new director is clearly to win back some of what was lost on the American market, says DR’s economics correspondent, Casper Schrøder.

- It is one of the direct reasons for the change in the position as top manager.

However, in addition to competition from Eli Lilly, there are also a number of copycat manufacturers, who in large numbers send products to the American market. When the downsizing was announced, they were also part of the explanation, because people are looking for them, not Novo.

- Novo Nordisk is trying to sue them and is trying to warn against the products in newspaper advertisements. Novo Nordisk says that there are more of the products that are deliberately dangerous, says Casper Schrøder.

Furthermore, Maziar Mike Doustdar has already pointed out that there should be shorter from idea to execution in the enormous company.

- They should therefore have some products that they can bring to market faster and that are better than Lilly's, says business journalist Hanne Sindbæk.

Novo Nordisk is currently working on developing several drugs for weight loss, including Amycretin and Cagrisema.

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The organization will be trimmed

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Many have been hired in Novo Nordisk in recent years, and the colossal company currently employs around 77,000 employees.

It did not take long for the newly appointed top manager to announce "savings and efficiency improvements" in the company on the so-called "less important areas".

- He would not say that there could come layoffs, says economics correspondent Casper Schrøder.

- But he more than hinted at himself that there may be a need for a tightening of the belt.

Asked by Hanne Sindbæk, is there no doubt that there will have to be seen on the organization's composition when Maziar Mike Doustdar is in place as the new spearhead at the beginning of August.

There is a setup for fewer focus areas, which the company will instead be better at.

- Novo Nordisk is of course growing well for good reasons due to the need to increase production, says Hanne Sindbæk.

- But there are 77,000 employees in Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly has a larger turnover with around 45,000 employees. So there is room for improvement.

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