Lundbeck elects new chairman

H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) today announced that its Board of Directors will be electing a new chairman after the annual general meeting to be held on 21 March.

Mats Pettersson, member of Lundbeck's Board of Directors since 2003, and chairman since 2011, has announced that he will not be seeking re-election. Lundbeck's present board member, Håkan Björklund, has agreed to offer himself as a candidate for the position as chairman if he is re-elected at the upcoming annual general meeting.

“Lundbeck holds a unique and strong position in the development of pharmaceuticals for the treatment of brain disorders, which is one of the greatest health challenges of the 21st century. I have in-depth knowledge of Lundbeck after two years as a board member, and I look forward to contributing to Lundbeck's progress and future growth in my role as chairman”, said Håkan Björklund.

For ten years, Mats Pettersson made a great contribution to the company's performance, and he has been instrumental in ensuring the stronger position that Lundbeck enjoys today.

“I have held a seat on the Board of Directors of Lundbeck for nearly ten years, acting as chairman for close to two years. I have had ten very exciting years, and it has been a privilege to contribute to developing Lundbeck and expanding the company's strong position”, said Mats Pettersson and he continued: ”Lundbeck is well prepared to face the future, building on its strong platform for long-term growth, and I have decided that this was the right time to pass the baton to a new board member and chairman”.

New board candidate
Lundbeck's Board of Directors will nominate Lars Rasmussen, CEO of Coloplast A/S, as new board member at the annual general meeting. 

The Board of Directors will propose re-election of Håkan Björklund, Christian Dyvig, Thorleif Krarup, Jes Østergaard and Melanie G. Lee. The Board of Directors expects to re-elect Christian Dyvig as deputy chairman of the Board of Directors.

Financial guidance
The content of this release will have no influence on the Lundbeck Group's financial guidance for 2013, which was provided on 6 February 2013 in connection with the release of the financial results for 2012.
 

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About Lundbeck
Lundbeck is a global pharmaceutical company highly committed to improving the quality of life of people living with brain diseases. For this purpose, Lundbeck is engaged in the entire value chain throughout research, development, production, marketing and sales of pharmaceuticals across the world. The company’s products are targeted at disorders such as depression and anxiety, psychotic disorders, epilepsy, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Lundbeck’s pipeline consists of several mid- to late- stage development programs.

Lundbeck employs more than 5800 people worldwide, 2,000 of whom are based in Denmark. We have employees in 57 countries, and our products are registered in more than 100 countries. We have research centers in Denmark, China and the United States and production facilities in Italy, France, Mexico, China and Denmark. Lundbeck generated revenue of approximately DKK 15 billion in 2012. For additional information, we encourage you to visit our corporate site www.lundbeck.com.

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements
The above information contains forward-looking statements that provide our expectations or forecasts of future events such as new product introductions, product approvals and financial performance.

Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions. This may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and it may cause any or all of our forward-looking statements here or in other publications to be wrong. Factors that may affect future results include interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations, delay or failure of development projects, production problems, unexpected contract breaches or terminations, government-mandated or market-driven price decreases for Lundbeck's products, introduction of competing products, Lundbeck's ability to successfully market both new and existing products, exposure to product liability and other lawsuits, changes in reimbursement rules and governmental laws and related interpretation thereof, and unexpected growth in costs and expenses.

Certain assumptions made by Lundbeck are required by Danish Securities Law for full disclosure of material corporate information. Some assumptions, including assumptions relating to sales associated with product that is prescribed for unapproved uses, are made taking into account past performances of other similar drugs for similar disease states or past performance of the same drug in other regions where the product is currently marketed. It is important to note that although physicians may, as part of their freedom to practice medicine in the US, prescribe approved drugs for any use they deem appropriate, including unapproved uses, at Lundbeck, promotion of unapproved uses is strictly prohibited.