Novo Nordisk's North American head Jakob Riis to leave

Novo Nordisk's head of North America Operations and president of Novo Nordisk Inc Jakob Riis has resigned.

He will remain with the Danish pharma company for a transitional period, ahead of joining Copenhagen-based health and safety services company Falck as president and CEO on 1 May.

Riis (pictured) joined Novo in 1996 and spent 10 years as the firm's senior vice president of global marketing, during which he took on additional responsibilities in China and the Pacific region.

However, he only held his US role for seven months, and it will now by filled by Dough Langa, who currently serves as its US senior vice president for market access.

Göran Ando, chairman of Novo's board of directors, said: "We are of course sad to see Jakob Riis leave. He has done a great job throughout his career in Novo Nordisk, and we wish him all the best. 

"We welcome Doug Langa as our new head of North America operations. Doug's experience in the US pharmaceutical market, his leadership skills and expertise in the area of market access make him the natural successor to Jakob Riis."

Langa joined Novo in 2011 as senior director, managed markets, from GlaxoSmithKline where he was senior director of payer marketing and prior to that spent the majority of his career at Johnson & Johnson.