The number of jobs lost is an increase on figures previously suggested, which had been reported as 400 members of staff.
According to the company, its total number of employees is approximately 43,200, meaning the increased number of cuts equates to approximately 3% of the workforce.
In its third quarter results, the company explained the decision would help “accelerate the expansion and diversification of its pipeline and to enable increased investment in transformational biological and technological innovation”.
In the same results, the company posted that its operating profit had decreased by 6% as a result of severance costs and currency fluctuations – though net profit still increased by 1% to DKK 30.1bn ($46.1bn).
Karsten Knudsen, CFO of the company, noted that third-quarter costs would be DKK 600m, telling investors that end of year figures will be provided February 1, 2019.
In with the new
Coinciding with the biologics pipeline restructure is the appointment of Ludovic Helfgott as Novo Nordisk’s new head of biopharm, replacing Jesper Brandgaard.
In the third quarter, sales within the biopharmaceuticals portfolio declined by 6% and, on the investor call, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, CEO, was asked whether this appointment reflected a change in strategy.
The appointment has no “relation to the biopharm strategy or anything linked to this”, responded Jorgensen, “Jesper’s done a fantastic job”.