Chairmanship and board committees
A chairman and a vice-chairman elected by the Board from among its members form the Chairmanship of the Board. In 2008, the Chairmanship held seven meetings and both members attended all meetings. The CEO and the CFO also attended all meetings.
The Chairmanship carries out administrative tasks, such as planning board meetings to ensure a balance between overall strategy-setting and financial and managerial supervision of the company. It also reviews the fixed asset investment portfolio.
Other tasks include recommending the remuneration of directors and executives and suggesting candidates for election by the general meeting. In practice, the Chairmanship has the role and responsibility of a nomination committee and a remuneration committee.
In March 2009, the Board elected Sten Scheibye as chairman and Göran A. Ando as vice chairman.
Permanent board committees
In principle, Novo Nordisk believes that each board member must have the opportunity to contribute actively to all discussions and have access to all relevant information, hence the limited number of board members.
Research & Development Facilitator
The Board has appointed a research & development facilitator to assist the Board and Executive Management in preparing the Board’s discussions in the R&D area. The key tasks are reviewing R&D strategies and evaluating the competitiveness of the R&D organisation, processes and projects. Furthermore, the R&D Facilitator reviews the licensing strategy and related processes.
In March 2009, the Board elected Göran A. Ando as R&D Facilitator.
