May 16 (UPI) — Novo Nordisk announced Friday that CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen is stepping down per mutual agreement with the company.

The company said Friday that Jorgensen will continue as CEO for an unspecified period to smooth the leadership transition.

“A search for Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen’s successor is ongoing, and an announcement will be made in due course. In connection with the change, Lars Rebien Sorensen, chair of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, will join the Novo Nordisk Board, initially as an observer,” Novo Nordisk said in statement,

The company said the changes are being made “in light of the recent market challenges Novo Nordisk has been facing, and the development of the company’s share price since mid-2024.”

Company share prices have declined amid the market challenges and an accelerated CEO succession was decided after “a dialogue” between the Novo Nordisk Foundation Board and the Novo Nordisk Board.

“Novo Nordisk’s strategy remains unchanged, and the Board is confident in the company’s current business plans and its ability to execute on the plans,” Helge Lund, chair of the Novo Nordisk Board, said in a statement.

Rebien joins the Novo Nordisk Board as the result of an agreement between that board and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Board. He will be nominated as a board member in 2026.

“Serving as Novo Nordisk’s CEO for the past eight years has been a privilege and an experience that I will always cherish. I am proud of the results I have helped create together with my leadership team, the Board, and the thousands of employees who work every day to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases,” Jorgensen said in a statement.

The company said Friday that Jorgenson led Novo Nordisk through “a significant growth journey and transformation.” It said in his eight-year tenure as CEO the company’s profits, share price and sales nearly tripled.

Novo Nordisk is a Danish pharmaceutical company that makes popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.