H. Lundbeck A/S (HLUNB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Interpreted] So welcome to this year's AGM of Lundbeck here in 2021. As you already know, this year's Annual General Meeting is being held under very difficult and different conditions than before. There's no physical appearance from shareholders because of COVID-19 situation. All shareholders can participate electronically via Lumi AGM from a PC or a tablet. From Lumi AGM, you can follow the webcast of the AGM. You can ask written questions via a chat function and you can participate in votes. So the chat ensures there can be a dialogue involving you, the shareholders, and the Board. Jørgen Kjergaard, our Chairman of the meeting, will come back with more details. Today's AGM as normal, you can follow in Danish or in English. There is simultaneous interpretation into English so that shareholders all of the world can follow proceedings. And when Deborah, our CEO, speaks, there will be simultaneous interpretation into Danish. So both versions, Danish and English, will be available subsequently on our website. Let me start the AGM by presenting Lundbeck's present Board of Directors. I mean the other members are not going to be present here today because of the situation. The members elected by the AGM, apart from me, are Lene Skole-Sorensen, Vice Chairman; Henrik Andersen; Jeffrey Berkowitz; Lars Erik Holmqvist; and Jeremy Max Levin. Members of the Board elected by the employees, Rikke Kruse Andreasen; Henrik Sindal Jensen; and Ludovic Tranholm Otterbein. So I'd also like to introduce you to the executive management. As I said, only Deborah Dunsire is present here today. She is our President and CEO. We also have in the executive management, Peter Anastasiou, he is Executive Vice President for North America; Lars Bang, EVP for Product Development and Supply; Anders Götzsche, EVP, he is in charge of finance, he is our CFO; Elise Hauge, EVP, People and Communications; Keld Flintholm Jørgensen, EVP in charge of Corporate Strategy and Business Development; Johan Luthman, EVP in charge of Research and Development; and Jacob Tolstrup, he is EVP in charge of Commercial Operations. So I'd like to thank the executive management and all the other employees of Lundbeck for their sterling effort and the great results achieved in 2020, a very busy year. We focused on executing our strategy and adapting our organization, and we had to adjust and adapt plans and activities to what was possible in a global pandemic. Looking back over 2020 and the Board's work, I'm very pleased. On the Board of Directors, we have enjoyed the dialogue and discussions with executive management. We followed developments, participated in strategic deliberations and followed up on the implementation of the strategy laid out in early 2019. Deborah and myself will be talking more about that at this AGM. According to the Articles of Association of the company, the Board appoints the chair of the meeting. Again, this year, we have appointed Jørgen Kjergaard Madsen, attorney-at-law at Kromann Reumert. He will take us through the AGM. Over to you, Jørgen.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, and thank you for appointing me Chairman of the meeting. First of all, I wish to repeat some of the practicalities that apply because of the virtual setup. As the Chairman mentioned, we have a fully electronic AGM this year, which means that you, as shareholders, can follow the meeting via the Lumi system. The webcast recording of today's meeting will be stored and be available later on the website of Lundbeck. Shareholders have been asked whenever possible to submit questions and comments in advance, but it is, of course, possible also to do the same during the meeting via the Lumi platform. It's available now on the screen behind me. [Operator Instructions] If you have any technical problems, this is not something that you can resolve by means of the chat function, you will have to phone the hotline of help desk, and there is a phone number on the screen. At the bottom of the screen here, you'll find the text box that you will use to submit a comment or a question. There is a send button that you click. And as I said before, we encourage you to submit questions and comments as soon as at all possible. When we receive your input, I will read out the question or the comment in order for all shareholders to hear the question, and then we will also get the answers. I would point out that there is a certain delay in the system. This has to do with the transmission in the Lumi system. And we will do our best to tackle this by inserting small breaks at appropriate stages in order for shareholders to be given time to submit questions and comments. And I would also point out here that if you have a time problem, if you feel you don't have time enough, then it is possible to send us an advance notice, to say I am writing or I am contributing with something and it is in the pipeline. Then we will have a break of a minute or so. Also, I would point out that it is also possible for the press to attend the meeting. And that sound recordings are permitted for the work purposes, but not image recording. With these words, we will now turn to the agenda. It is my job to find whether the meeting has been legally and lawfully convened and whether we are a quorate and are capable of transacting the business on the agenda. The meeting is held in the right place and in Danish legislation, it is actually possible to have a fully electronic meeting. And it must be held before the expiry of April. This is what it says in the Articles of Association. So this requirement has been met. Also they must be given due notice, minimum 3 weeks, maximum 5 weeks, that convening notice was sent out on the 26th of February of this year, and it was made available on the company's website and via Nasdaq Copenhagen and message about this has been sent to registered shareholders. So all that is fine. And then the convening notice and documents that are required to be made available to shareholders. This has been done via the company's website also since the 26th of February and also for the appropriate period prior to the meeting. The agenda is also in compliance with Article 8 of the Articles of Association, and there is nothing in the agenda that requires a specific proportion of share capital or shareholders to be present at the meeting. So I find that the meeting has been legally and lawfully convened and that we are quorate. But for the sake of good order, I would ask if anyone objects to this finding on my part or has anything to contribute? So we will now have our first short break to make sure that there are no objections. So we will have about a minute's break now. [Break]

[Interpreted] Thank you. It will be entered in the minutes that there have been no objections or comments. So we will now embark on the agenda as it appears in the convening notice. It's also available on the screen. I'll briefly outline it. We have items 1 and 2, the report of the Board of Directors on the company's activities during the past year and presentation and adoption of the audited annual report. Then we have 3, resolution on the appropriation of profit or loss. Item, 4, presentation of and advisory vote on the remuneration report. The proposal is this year to deal with items 1 to 4 in one go. I'll get back to this. Item 5, proposal to increase the number of Board members elected to maximum 8 instead of previously maximum 6 and the resulting amendment to the Articles of Association. Item 6, election of members to the Board of Directors; 7, approval of remuneration to the Board of Directors for the current financial year; 8, election of auditors; 9, proposals from shareholders or Board of Directors. We have received nothing from shareholders this year. So we only have to deal with the proposals from the Board of Directors. And I do propose that we go back to them in detail when we get to that item. Also, as regards attendance, more than 80% of the company's shareholders are represented. I can also inform you that the proxies and postal votes received means that we have a large majority in favor of all the things that need to be voted on today. So formally speaking, it will not be necessary to have votes in order to find whether the proposals are adopted or not. I will now hand over to the Chairman of the Board. And he will be followed by Deborah Dunsire, the President and CEO. Lars, you have the floor.

[Interpreted] Yes. I've been looking forward to giving you the report from the Board of Directors and to take you through the 2020 annual report. It is estimated that almost 3 billion people have a brain disease. Brain diseases, according to WHO, are the biggest cause of reduced quality of life and the second biggest cause of death at world level. People living with brain diseases see more discrimination, and their life expectancy is 10 to 20 years shorter. The world really needs science to deliver innovative drugs to restore the full function of the brain. So that's what Lundbeck wants to do, to help people with brain disease so that every person can be their best, utilize their full potential. And that is why we are working with the strategic ambition of being #1 in brain diseases. We'll do it by developing medicine that can really create clear improvements for patients living with rare neurological diseases and diseases in niche neurology and psychiatry. Before I talk about the result for 2020, I think I should say a few words about COVID-19. This is the factor that for many of us has really influenced our everyday life the most in 2020. Lundbeck has supported the initiatives and recommendations of the authority to reduce the spreading of the infection. We have had 2 primary objectives. First is protect our employees; and secondly, to protect the production and distribution of the medicine we produce. So throughout the year, we have been able to ensure the continued delivery of medicine to the more than 7 million patients around the world who depend on our medication in their daily lives. We have succeeded, and our ambition is that we will continue to succeed with that. Furthermore, we've also succeeded with driving and developing our business despite the obstacles of COVID-19. I'd like to thank Lundbeck's 5,500 employees throughout the world for their persistence that drive their creativity. It's this persistence, this innovative thinking which really has meant that Lundbeck has reached the result that we delivered for 2020. Because 2020 financial year was a good year for Lundbeck, total revenue was DKK 17.7 billion. So growing 4% from 2019 despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the negative consequences of exchange rate developments because they really affected us in the second half of 2020. We saw increased revenue in all 3 regions: North America, Europe and international markets. So our revenue was in the middle of the guidance span that we had given when the year started. The company delivered progress in the underlying operating earnings, operating EBITDA. Operating result before depreciation for the year was DKK 4.8 billion. We had expected DKK 3.9 billion to DKK 4.4 billion. The same progress was seen in our core operating results. The primary operating result for 2020 was DKK 2.2 billion, a bit lower than expected when we started the year. This was because of events that had no influence on the underlying operation. It was mainly extraordinary depreciation and value impairment, DKK 1.1 billion. Foliglurax and Rexulti were the 2 products affected by that. More than 50% of our revenue comes from our North America business, 24% from international markets and the rest from Europe. So Lundbeck's most important currencies are American dollars, Chinese yen and Canadian dollars. All in all, they are 70% of our currency exposure. And across these currencies, we have seen a strong decline in exchange rates. That was very clear in the fourth quarter. Sales from North America were affected negatively by 7 percentage points in the fourth quarter. Sales from international markets were affected negatively by 9 percentage points because of exchange rate decline. Expectations for 2021 that we will have an inference also from the exchange rates that can have a negative impact on our revenue, about DKK 800 million, it could be. Look at the underlying business. It is sound. As mentioned, Lundbeck's revenue grew by 4% despite COVID-19 and the currency developments. In 2020, we've seen an increase in sales, distribution, administration costs. This is because of investments in sales promotion for our strategic products, especially the launch of Vyepti in the U.S. We've also seen an increase in our research and development costs because of the value impairment of foliglurax, that's about DKK 800 million and investments in clinical trials for Vyepti. If we adjust for these, cost developments from 2019 to 2020 would have been flat. These mentioned matters have a natural consequence for operating result or EBIT, which is DKK 2 billion. Without these investments and the value impairment, the reported EBIT margin would have been more than 25%. Now this is a result of the sound underlying business we have. You can see it up here to the left, shows a solid development of liquidity, of cash flow in 2020. To the right here, you can see the acquisitions of Abide Therapeutics and Alder BioPharmaceuticals. They were made in 2019, these 2 acquisitions. Net debt rose to DKK 6.6 billion. 2020, strong cash flow has reduced our net debt to DKK 4.1 billion. We expect our net debt will be in the interval from DKK 3 billion to DKK 3.5 billion at the end of 2021. Now if we zoom out and look at Lundbeck's development from a strategic perspective over a number of years, it's quite clear that Lundbeck has been on a long journey of growth. Over the last 20 years, Lundbeck has seen an average annual growth in revenue of 7.4%. Over these 20 years, there have been periods with a decline in revenue because of loss of patents for core products. But we've counteracted that. We have launched new products, we have developed or acquired. Here in early 2021, Northera, the patent expired. Some of this decline in revenue that we'll see because Northera is no longer protected by a patent, but there will be a counteracting effect from the growth in revenue from new products, including Vyepti. So it's our long-term ambition to continue our historic growth journey. In February 2019, we launched our strategy Expand and Invest to Grow. And we have certainly done that at Lundbeck. It's of the essence when we've executed this strategy, has been the 2 acquisitions we made in 2019. Abide Therapeutics in California, we acquired, gave us access to a biological platform and projects in early clinical development stages. Later on, in 2019, we acquired Alder BioPharmaceuticals, and its migraine projects with Vyepti just launched in the U.S. It's just been launched, as I said, and a number of projects that are under development. With the acquisition of Alder BioPharmaceuticals, Lundbeck has also acquired competencies in the development of biological products. As the Board of Directors, we are very pleased with these acquisitions and their integration and the contributions that they add to our portfolio and competencies. Other essential elements in the execution of the strategy is the expanded executive management that has also added new competencies. Another essential element is to maintain our momentum of the existing brands to us to maximize their potential. Let me also emphasize the transformation that's going on in our R&D department. Competencies in new areas seem to be important for the development of future medicine. These new competencies have been established. We've also reassessed the areas of diseases that we want to focus on. This transformation is central if we had to expand our pipeline, thereby contributing to our ambition of future growth. Lundbeck has done all of that, while continuously focusing on cost control and cost management. It is this transformation in our R&D department, which is the reason why we are proposing Santiago Arroyo as a new member of the Board. Santiago Arroyo's strength could match with the Board well because of his expertise in therapeutic treatment and research combined -- I mean, in neuroscience, combined with the strategic business insight. As you've seen Henrik Andersen is not running this year. It's been a great pleasure to work with Henrik over the years, and we are pleased now to propose Dorothea Wenzel as a new member to take over from Henrik Andersen, including his post as Chair of the Audit Committee. I'll come back to that a bit later today. Now I'll give the floor to our CEO, Deborah Dunsire, who will take you through Lundbeck's activities and results in 2020 and talk about the further development of our strategy. Over to you, Deborah.

Thank you, Lars. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Lundbeck's Annual General Meeting. As Lars has pointed out, we've made significant progress on our Expand and Invest to Grow strategy to transform our pipeline and build Lundbeck for the years to come. As we go forward, we think about performing today by maximizing the brands that we have in the market and continuing to build our business becoming more agile, better at managing costs and continuing to grow our company. We also look to transform for tomorrow as we build the pipeline that will carry Lundbeck forward into the future through new innovation in new areas, and we'll talk a little bit more about that. We've also continued to transform the way we work in research and development to accelerate the internal pipeline from Lundbeck. Our goal is nothing short of providing transformative outcomes for patients facing brain disease and to take Lundbeck forward into highly attractive commercial areas. It's no secret that COVID-19 did impact our ability to do business in 2020. We saw an unprecedented decline in patients' ability to see their physicians. And we saw also our ability to interact with physicians to educate them about our products significantly impacted around the world, starting with China early in Q1 and then spreading through Europe and North America and finally impacting LATAM in late Q2. Patients were concerned about going into physician offices and physicians were concerned about receiving them. And that resulted in a net decline in treatment for non-life-threatening conditions. We saw this affect demand from country to country. We were quick to implement virtual solutions throughout our sales force to continue to educate physicians, and we also made the choice to continue with our launch of Vyepti in the U.S. and Rexulti in Brazil and Italy. Because we were impacted by an inability to promote as usual, we did see significant cost savings in 2020. And we hope that 2020 (sic) 2021 will be less impacted in that way as the world returns to normal. The underlying performance for our strategic brands in that context was extremely strong with double-digit growth across all our strategic brands. And we saw a stronger growth in the first half than the second, partly due to the impact of COVID-19 and partly due to the impact on currency devaluation in the second half of the year. Vyepti, our newest launch, for the prevention of chronic and frequent episodic migraine. The product was approved on time in February and launched on time in April because there were physicians and patients who really needed the product. We were very proud that we were able to get the imports into the U.S. to be able to launch on time. Vyepti demand has doubled quarter-over-quarter Q3 to Q2 and Q4 to Q3. So we do see good growth and good acceptance in the market from patients as we see very positive testimonials from people who have received this drug that has transformed their lives when they have lived with migraine for so long. We got key reimbursement in place in the U.S., so that we will enable physicians to be more free to prescribe Vyepti as we go into 2021. We got Vyepti on formulary in multiple plans across the U.S., ending the year with over 130 million people who could have access to Vyepti through their insurance plans with no step through branded therapies. In fact, throughout all plans in the U.S., Vyepti was made available to patients in various different ways. Vyepti has a significant growth potential for our future in Lundbeck. We're continuing the global rollout. In fact, we have approval in 2 additional countries beyond the U.S., Canada and the UAE. And we've submitted for approval in 12 additional markets, and we'll continue those submissions through 2021. In December, the European Medicines Agency accepted Lundbeck's application for approval, and we would anticipate that to come to full approval in the first quarter of 2022. We've begun a market access trial for Vyepti to show its improvement versus older conventional therapies, and that trial continues to accrue very well. Asian development activities have begun in both China and Japan, and we've begun a second indication in episodic cluster headache to expand Vyepti's use to additional populations who can benefit from this mechanism. We did a lot of work in 2020 on our innovation strategy within Lundbeck. In 2019, we broadened the disease area focus to look throughout neuroscience where our science could benefit patients. In 2020, we focused our discovery research in 4 key biological areas where we anticipate that there will be access to targets that will become transforming medicines in the future. We've also refined the indication focus so that we will focus on diseases of the highest unmet need in neuroscience, treated by specialists where we can have a very focused commercial footprint, where we can bring forward transformative medicines that will command innovative pricing and where we have attractable biomarker-driven development approach. And that really takes us into a focus on niche neurology indications, niche psychiatry indications and rare disease neurology. Our pipeline has continued to advance. And we have grouped it in the 4 clusters, and you'll see 3 of them represented here. In our neuroinflammation, neuroimmunology cluster, we have very early assets in our own pipeline, and we'll continue to expand that pipeline through business development. The key news flow coming out of our pipeline. First and foremost, we achieved the first objective, getting the approval of Vyepti in Canada in January of this year. We expect approval of Vyepti in Australia towards the middle of the year, and we have a planned interim analysis on our third Phase III trial for Rexulti in treating agitation in Alzheimer's disease coming up in the second quarter. The outcome of that interim analysis could mean that the trial continues to a full enrollment of 330 patients, the most likely outcome, or it could be stopped for full success or it could be stopped for futility, and we will keep investors posted as and when we get those results in the second quarter. In the second half of the year, we anticipate progressing 2 molecules in our internal pipeline through into Phase II trials, 82422, our alpha-synuclein antibody going into multiple system atrophy and neurodegenerative disease and a Phase II trial with our PACAP inhibitor, which is another neuropeptide inhibitor for headache disorders and other pain disorders that came from the Alder acquisition going into Phase II towards the end of the year. We're also finalizing the proof-of-concept study for Rexulti in the use in borderline personality disorder, a very difficult-to-treat disorder in neuroscience where there is no approved therapy. As I've said, in the first half of 2022, we anticipate Vyepti approval in the EU, and we'll finalize our Phase III program to expand Rexulti into posttraumatic stress disorder. Our financial guidance for 2021 sees the revenue from our strategic brands continue to grow strongly. Vyepti uptake will continue and will accelerate. Of course, we need the pandemic to be controlled and to lift so patients can return to physicians for this growth to accelerate. Northera did lose exclusivity in February of this year, and we anticipate that sales will decline at least 50%. Foreign exchange rates do continue to impact us, as Lars previously pointed out. And we anticipate a negative downdraft of about DKK 800 million. Our profits are affected as we invest behind the growth of Vyepti for its global rollout and for the new indication development. We will see the financial expenses of around DKK 250 million to DKK 350 million. Lundbeck is a key member of our global community, not only because we support people with brain disease but because we aim to do our business in a sustainable way. We support many of the 17 sustainable development goals. Of course, goal number three, good health and well-being, is our primary business, but we're extremely active in the other goals also. And we saw our sustainability rankings improve in multiple different arenas in 2020. We also made the Carbon Disclosure Project A-list for our achievements in climate actions in 2020, again, after being included in the A-List in 2019. So let's talk about how we make impact on those sustainable development goals. Our climate actions have been going on for a long time. Since 2006 to 2019, Lundbeck has already reduced our carbon emissions from production by 70%, and will reduce a further 70% by 2034, with a goal of carbon neutrality in line with the Paris Accord goals by no later than 2050. Another step we've taken is to continue to change our production processes and be able to recycle the solvents that we use in the production of these organic chemicals, and we recycle 68% of our solvents. We've received certifications in multiple countries where Lundbeck is recognized as an attractive place for people to work. We've also begun a product donation program with international health partners so that we can continue to impact brain disease in countries where medicines are not typically afforded for brain diseases. We support mental health for all, particularly through our support of World Mental Health Day, where we engage policymakers and administrators, patients together to talk about reduction in stigma and the parity of access to physicians for mental health as well as for physical health. We've made progress on diversity, equality, inclusion and belonging in 2020, and it is our goal to continue to make steps forward. This is an imperative demanded by societal and generational shifts, and it sets new agendas and requirements for our workplaces. We have sharply increased our focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. We've made progress in that 3 of our Board members are female, and our employees are split globally at about 53% female and 47% male, and we strive to have an equal balance or a balanced representation at all levels throughout our organization. We implemented a diversity and inclusion forum and employees in that forum were able to make recommendations for the focus areas for diversity and inclusion for the years going forward. And we will continue to do that around the globe where different contexts demand different focus. So this is who we are at Lundbeck. We are tirelessly dedicated to restoring brain health, so every person can be their best. The people of Lundbeck are its treasure and the reason that we can make progress. We are anchored by our beliefs and focused on our purpose as we execute on our strategy to expand and invest to grow towards our ambition to become #1 in brain health by 2030. Thank you. And back to you, Lars -- or to Jørgen.

[Interpreted] Thank you. We are here, it's item 1 and 2 on the agenda. We've heard about the annual report. But to have as flexible approach as possible as mentioned, we have proposed that items 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the agenda will be treated together. So we'll just have a look at item 3 on the agenda. That's the resolution on the distribution of profit or loss. And as you can see, the dividend proposed for the year, DKK 498 million, it's DKK 2.5 per share, a payout ratio of 31%, the same percentage as last year. Item 4, this is the presentation of and advisory vote on the remuneration report. The remuneration has been published on the company website, and there will be no further comment here in detail. It has been provided for an advisory vote. So those were items 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the agenda that we have now dealt with. And this is where normally, I'll open the floor for discussion, questions and comments. We have received one comment from the Danish Association of Shareholders. I'm going to read it out in a minute. But before I do so, I would encourage shareholders to submit their question or comment if they want to, while I read out the intervention here from the Danish Association of Shareholders. Now let me mention just for the sake of order that the annual report has what we have called -- what we call an unqualified report from PwC, the auditors. You can see it on Page 98 of the annual report. Now the Danish Association of Shareholders goes as follows: It's Mikael Bak, the manager. Thank you to the Board and management for a good report. The Danish Association of Shareholders appreciate that despite COVID-19, we have shareholder democracy, interventions can be read out and replies are given by Board and management and you can see the full minutes on the company website subsequently. Lundbeck's result in 2020 is just one of the number of factors that create the foundation for the transformation for the company's share. Despite patent expiry and limitation on physical presence here at clinics and because of COVID-19, Lundbeck had a decent 2020. So since 2017, it's been sort of a sidewards movement going down a little bit. The guidance for 2021 doesn't change that. A number of patents will expire in the coming years. So what can we hope for in terms of new product launches as shareholders. What is going to give earnings up to 2030? What are the criteria used by Board and management for any acquisitions that may strengthen the business, while still maintaining profitability at a reasonably higher level. The Danish Association of Shareholders has 3 things we focus on in 2021. One of them is succession. So the company's preparedness to find new good leadership candidates. Secondly, the use of whistleblower schemes; and thirdly, the insurance of good guidance in an unpredictable era. Lundbeck has a number of valuable competencies in a complicated pharmaceutical area, which is across the CNS system. We look at the overall Board and management. What are your overall plans of action to develop talent for CEO, CSO and CFO candidates for the future? Now Lundbeck is one of the few big companies that have a female CEO. Can you talk about any action plans you have to ensure that young people with top manager potential will continue to be successful? How can you ensure that women not sort of sidetracked during a period when they are on maternity leave or have young children, tends to take up more of their time than their male colleagues' time? Finally, on behalf of private investors, all the best for Lundbeck in 2021 and on your journey going forward. We hope we can meet physically again next year. So that was the intervention from the Danish Association of Shareholders. Over to the Chairman and the CEO, who will comment on that.

[Interpreted] Thank you for the comment on our report. I'm going to talk about -- I'll be talking about succession planning and the whistleblower scheme and good guidance that they were mentioned in the contribution there, and Deborah will talk about key events and our focus on inclusion and diversity. Well, succession planning, it is what you would call like a fixed element on the agenda of the Board. This is extremely important point because people build companies and managers and management quality are all essential when it comes to generating good results. So we focus a lot on that. We assess competencies, knowledge, experience for all members of management, both on the Board of Directors, but also the executive management. If you look at the composition of the Board and the executive management, in a 3-year perspective, you will see that major changes have been introduced because we always need to adapt to the reality in which we live. So all employees, also those just below the sort of top management level, those that are coming -- upcoming, we have interviews and development plans every year with those sort of our junior managers. And as in all companies, we look at the internal pipeline we have for new talent, but we also make sure that we have a certain flow going into the company of talent coming in from the outside. I mean this is obviously global competition when you're a global company like we are. But there's no doubt that this is something that we certainly focus on. Now then the whistleblower scheme. Well, we've had a whistleblower scheme for many years actually. This is not new to us, not at all to operate with the global whistleblower scheme. And we're never going to take sort of that for granted. We actually advertise the scheme often to ensure that all employees understand that no, there is such a scheme, you can voice your opinion, if you say -- see something you think maybe it's not right. There is full briefing in the Audit Committee, and they take it then to the Board of Directors. So the full Board of Directors is informed of what's going on in terms of whistleblower events and whatever sanctions may be used. So we look at all comments received. In 2020, we received 24 notifications. 22 of those have been finalized, 6 of them led to some sort of corrective or preventive action. Every year, new requirements turn up in this field, and we get better and better. So we do develop our organization. So we have also done that in the year under review. We have strengthened our organization in this field. We also call it a compliance hotline. It's also mentioned in our sustainability report on Pages 24 and 25. Good guidance in an unpredictable time, where Lundbeck perhaps is in a better situation than many other companies because the people that use our products, they need our products, COVID-19 or no COVID-19. So it's been easier for us to predict where we were going to end. And as I said in my report, we were sort of almost spot on. We were within the span at least in terms of revenue and earnings. There was the currency problem that I mentioned, the decline in value there. You can't know that in advance. We also had a value impairment that did not affect, however, the EBITDA but we thought, as I said, within the span, and we can -- we benefit from being in a line of work that has more predictability. Over to you, Deborah, if you want to address the 2 other topics.

Thanks for the question. So our goal is to keep Lundbeck growing and sustainable into the future. And of course, that needs new medicines coming from our pipeline. The most up-to-date or the ones that are coming soonest will be life cycle management indications for Rexulti, which expand the opportunity for Rexulti to grow through its patent life up to 2029. And those new indications include agitation in Alzheimer's disease, posttraumatic stress disorder. And then possibly, if the proof-of-concept yields success, borderline personality disorder. We also have a launch of Abilify Maintena in a 2-month version, which has a longer protection than the 1-month version that will retain part of that franchise, which expires in 2024. And of course, Vyepti is going to be a grower for us up until the mid-30s, not only in chronic and episodic migraine, but in the other indications, the first of which is in episodic cluster headache. So those are the late-stage pipeline. We're also putting molecules into the mid-stage pipeline. I mentioned our S-mAb product, the alpha-synuclein antibody and the PACAP antibody for multiple system atrophy and then for other types of migraine and headache. Those could come to fruition into the late 20s and up to the 30s. And then we'll be continuing to do business development along the 4 biological clusters to bring in molecules across all phases of the pipeline. But we have strong growth anticipated from our strategic brands in the years ahead. So we can be very thoughtful about what we do with business development. There's no rush or desperation. We look for the right opportunity to be able to grow Lundbeck and deliver to the bottom line over the years to come. Thank you very much for your question on diversity and inclusion. This is a critical topic. And across the world, it manifests in different ways so that we focus on all forms of diversity. Gender, of course, but also ethnicity, nationality, race, sexual orientation, many, many different aspects of diversity to ensure that every employee at Lundbeck feels that they have a strong sense of belonging, that their voice can be heard here. We have a good spread of women. We have actually more women than men in our company overall. But we do have certain areas in more senior levels where we don't have as yet the balance that we would like to see. And so we do have a focus on how do we make sure that we can bring women back into the workplace after they have been out on maternity leave, how do we re-onboard them and accelerate them in development. It's also clearly apparent around the world that COVID-19 has significantly impacted women's ability to stay in the workplace as they have shouldered a lot more of the burden of child care when children have been at home. And that's something that we, as societies, need to address to enable us to fully access and profit from the talented women that we have across the world. I'll stop there and hand it back to Jørgen.

[Interpreted] Thank you. Those were the replies and comments concerning the contribution from the Danish Association of Shareholders. I have not received any further questions or comments. But just to be on the safe side, to make sure that people can make any comments or queries concerning what has just been said, we must just have a short break, about a minute, so as to make sure that if people want to comment, they can do it. Short break. [Break]

[Interpreted] Welcome back. We've not received any further questions or comments to the items we have dealt with. So I'm going to conclude that the Board's report has been duly noted. The AGM has approved the audited annual report for 2020. The AGM has approved the resolution on the appropriation of profit and the dividend to be paid and that, as an advisory vote, the AGM has approved the remuneration report. Those are items 1 to 4 on the agenda. That brings us to item 5. This is the item that deals with increasing the maximum number of Board members elected to the Board of Directors through an amendment to the Articles of Association, as the Chairman said, in order to have more flexibility and ensure the Board of Directors always has the necessary competencies and knowledge needed for its tasks. As said, it is proposed to allow the AGM to elect up to 8 members to the Board. At present, the maximum is 6. So this is an amendment to Article 5.1 of the Articles of Association as you can see on the screen. We will again have a short break to allow shareholders to make any comment, have any queries, about a 1-minute break. That's good. [Break]

[Interpreted] It wouldn't seem that any shareholder wishes to comment on this item on the agenda. So I conclude that the amendment to the Articles has been duly adopted. That brings us to item 6, election of members to the Board of Directors. Over to the Chairman, Lars Rasmussen.

[Interpreted] Thank you. The present Board has 9 members, 6 of them elected by the AGM, 3 elected every 4 years by the Danish employees of the group. The Board proposes 7 members to be elected. There are 2 changes to the composition of the Board compared with last year. We are proposing that the following will continue: Myself and Lene Skole-Sorensen, Lars Erik Holmqvist, Jeremy Max Levin and Jeffrey Berkowitz. As mentioned before, Henrik Andersen is not running this year. And once again, I'd like to thank him very much for the excellent cooperation we have enjoyed with him over the last years. It's been a great pressure. We are pleased to propose Dorothea Wenzel as a new member of the Board. Dorothea is a German citizen. She's had a long career with Merck, is in Darmstadt in Germany. She is Executive Vice President today. Her competencies, particularly in finance and business transformation, will be very significant and relevant for Lundbeck and the activities and plans that we have for the future. Dorothea Wenzel meets the criteria for being an independent Board member in accordance with the recommendations on good corporate governance. We also propose Santiago Arroyo as a new member of the Board. We found that Santiago's knowledge and expertise in therapeutic treatment and research in neuroscience, combined with his strategic and business insight will strengthen our Board and be a strong contribution to the transformation in R&D that we will carry out. Santiago Arroyo also meets the criteria for being an independent Board member in accordance with the recommendations on good corporate governance. So back to Chairman of the meeting, Jørgen Kjergaard Madsen, for the final approval of the new Board of Directors. Thank you.

[Interpreted] Here's the candidates proposed by the Board of Directors, 5 of the 7 will be deemed to be independent: Lene Skole and Lars Holmqvist are considered not independent because of their work for the Lundbeck Foundation. The other candidates are deemed to be independent. We have the 2 new proposed members of the Board to the right here on the screen. For the sake of order, I should hear if there are any other nominations or any comments or questions concerning this item of the agenda. So again, we need a short break, about 1 minute. [Break]

[Interpreted] We have not received any contributions from those attending via the Internet. So I find that the proposal has been adopted. Congratulations with the reelection to Lars Rasmussen, Lene Skole-Sorensen, Jeffrey Berkowitz, Lars Erik Holmqvist, Jeremy Max Levin and congratulations with the election as new members to Santiago Arroyo and Dorothea Wenzel. Let's go to item 7, which is approval of remuneration to members of the Board of Directors for the current financial year. It will appear from the proposal that the amounts are unchanged from the remuneration level of 2020. And again, I'd like to hear if there are contributions in the form of comments or questions online, and we will have a break of about 1 minute to allow these contributions to reach us. [Break]

[Interpreted] We have received no comments or contributions. So I find that the proposal concerning remuneration to the Board of Directors for this year has been approved. Next item is item 8, election of auditors. The proposal is for a reelection of PricewaterhouseCoopers, represented here by Lars Baungaard and Torben Jensen. For the sake of good order, I would like to hear if there are other candidates, comments, questions. Now a short break to allow contributions to reach us. [Break]

[Interpreted] We have received no contributions from the chat function. So I find that the AGM has reelected PricewaterhouseCoopers. Congratulations. Item 9. Proposals from the Board of Directors as we have received nothing from shareholders. First, 9.1, a proposal, which is a standard item on an AGM agenda, authorization to the Board of Directors to acquire treasury shares of a total nominal value of up to 10% of the share capital. Again, I'd like to hear if there are comments or contributions. We will have another break, approximately 1 minute. [Break]

[Interpreted] We have not received any contributions from shareholders. So I take it, and I find that we have adopted the proposal. We have had a number of small breaks and other small breaks about to come. Some shareholders will have noticed that we break for slightly more than 1 minute, but that's because we have to take account of the transmission delay. So we need all of us to be patient and endure these small breaks that are required. But let's turn now to item 9.2, a proposal to amend the remuneration policy for Board of Directors and executive management. It appears from the convening notice that -- well, you could see in the convening notice the amendments that are proposed, I don't think I need to go into detail. And I therefore ask anyone with a question or comment to send it to us through the chat function now. We will have a break of approximately 1 minute. [Break]

[Interpreted] We have received no comments or questions. So I find that the proposal to amend the company's remuneration policy has been adopted. 9.3 is a proposal concerning future AGMs that may be held as completely electronic meetings and that this should be up to the discretion of the Board of Directors. I hand over now to Mr. Rasmussen.

[Interpreted] Yes. In this connection, I'd just like to emphasize, as it says in the proposal that we are making this proposal simply to allow the Board of Directors to take situations into consideration and to consider how to hold the individual AGM. We still wish to meet physically whenever it's possible and appropriate. We really want to see our shareholders, but it just allows us the possibility of more flexibility going forward. That's the way it is to be understood. Thank you very much.

[Interpreted] Again, under this item, I have to hear if there are any comments or queries. So again, a brief break, about 1 minute. [Break]

[Interpreted] No shareholders asked for the floor. So I conclude that the proposal concerning the future AGMs, that they can be held fully electronically, that has been duly adopted, this proposal. That brings us to item 9.4 on the agenda, the matter of language. There are 4 subpoints here. Again, it is increased flexibility for the company to use the English language. The first proposal is to say that the corporate language is English. And then secondly, that the AGM can be held in Danish or English as decided by the Board of Directors. And then a proposal concerning the documents to be used that they will be prepared in English or if decided by the Board in Danish. And the company announcement will be prepared in English. And if decided by the Board of Directors, also in Danish. Those are the proposals. So are there any questions or comments, we need to know that. So again, a 1-minute break. [Break]

[Interpreted] No shareholder has asked for the floor here. So I hereby conclude that the proposals here under 9.4 have been duly adopted. That brings us to the last motion, the last proposal is a standard one. It's 9.5, the proposal from the Board authorizing the Chairman of the meeting to notify the Danish Business Authority of any changes carried out here today and the decisions made here today. It's a point of order really. Normally, nobody has any comment or question concerning that. So I think I will say that we don't need to have a break. I will just move on to -- well, we will have one short break again. I should do that. If there are any questions concerning 9.5, the authorization to the Chairman of the meeting or so I'm saying, if you have anything to say on any other business, please prepare that now while we have the last 1-minute break. [Break]

[Interpreted] No comments have been made here under this item, meaning 9.5, or any other business. No requests for the floor have been received. So I conclude that we have exhausted the agenda. So I will continue my work, thank you, and give the floor back to Lars Rasmussen, who will finalize this year's AGM.

[Interpreted] Yes. Thank you for taking us through the AGM, and thank you to all of you who voted and listened in. This was the first time we've had a fully electronic AGM. I look forward to what is hopefully a normal AGM in 2022, it will be on the 23rd of March next year. Thank you very much. Bye-bye. [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]