Novo Nordisk has appointed Jesper Høiland president of its US affiliate to replace Jerzy Gruhn, who has taken over the leadership of the European business from the recently retired Martin Soeters.
Høiland assumed responsibility for the US operation earlier this month, moving from Zurich, Switzerland to Plainsboro, New Jersey.
In his new role he will be responsible for a region that accounted for 46 per cent of the company’s reported sales in the first six months of this year and will report to executive vice president and chief operating officer Kåre Schultz.
Having joined Novo Nordisk in 1987 as assistant area manager in Denmark, Høiland has worked for Novo Nordisk in a number of roles and regions, most recently as senior vice president of international operations.
In this role he doubled employee numbers, tripled overall pharmaceutical sales and oversaw the spinoff of Novo’s China operations as a separate regional entity.
Høiland described his new move as “a great opportunity to lead an organisation that is both driving the growth of our business and helping solve one of the most pressing health challenges facing the United States, diabetes”.