Novo Nordisk A/S (NOVOB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, and welcome to Novo Nordisk's Annual General Meeting 2022. We had planned for the Chair of the Board, Helge Lund, to be present with us here today. But unfortunately, due to COVID-19, Helge is unable to travel to Denmark. He joins us virtually from his home in Norway. Helge, over to you.

Thank you, Lars, and good afternoon, and a warm welcome to Novo Nordisk Annual General Meeting 2022. My name is Helge Lund, and I'm the Chair of the Board of Directors. And let me start out by expressing how thrilled I am that we are able to conduct this Annual General Meeting as a hybrid, allowing for participation irrespective of your location and preference. And on behalf of the Board, a very warm welcome to you all, and thank you for joining us. For those of you joining us online, please note that the broadcast is available in English and in Danish, you simply choose your preferred language. Before we start, I would like to express my deepest sympathies for the Ukrainian people and those impacted by the brutal Russian invasion of a sovereign country. The situation leaves none of us unaffected, and we strongly condemn this act of violence. Our priorities are to ensure the safety of our employees and their families and support the patients that rely on our treatments. We assess how best to help either monetarily or through ensuring access to our essential medicines. We also work with various humanitarian organizations to ensure such access, and Lars will speak more about this and our priorities a little later. Now let me put a few words to the performance of Novo Nordisk in 2021. And despite the pandemic still being a challenge throughout 2021 and the initial struggle in meeting the unprecedented demand for our new obesity treatment, we made good progress as a company in the past year. We've broadened our technology platforms and product pipeline to strengthen the basis for long-term growth, whilst investing significantly in expanding our future production capacity. Health and environmental challenges dominate today's global agenda, posing threats to people's lives and livelihoods. And the past 2 years have underscored the essential role of science in tackling these challenges, whether it is managing a rogue virus or reducing emissions. And our purpose and long-standing aspiration of creating value for society and for our future business is more relevant than ever. And we continue to serve more patients in need around the world in line with our purpose of driving change in diabetes and other serious chronic diseases. Innovation is our key contribution to patients, societies at large and what we build the future of the company on. Therefore, it is with great gratitude and excitement the Board followed the launch of new products in 2021, most notably Wegovy for obesity in the U.S., and the unprecedented and overwhelming high patient demand for the treatment underpinned the importance of ensuring treatment for people living with obesity. The significantly higher-than-expected demand and production challenges meant that we struggled to meet demand, something that underlines the vital importance of investments made in our global production capacity in 2021. We have a unique opportunity to execute on the commercial potential that our innovative new treatments have to offer, while ensuring as many people as possible have access to quality medicines. We also need to develop the medicines for the future. This means we look beyond our existing focus areas and our successful GLP-1 molecule, semaglutide, towards adjacent therapy areas and new technology platforms to address unmet medical needs. We want to become a better and more innovative company, and a key enabler of this is us driving a diverse and truly inclusive culture. In 2021, we set new aspirational targets for achieving a balanced gender representation across managerial levels, and it is our belief that this will stimulate and inspire progress on other diversity dimensions too. We will evolve and challenge ourselves in how we work and innovate. This entails combining our deep in-house expertise with the best science from outside through partnerships with businesses, academia and research institutions. If we succeed, Novo Nordisk will look very different a decade from now, and we will also be making a positive impact in new therapeutic areas. Our ownership structure will help in this transition by supporting us through investment in research and development for the long term, while maintaining a focus on high-quality operations and financial performance. 2021 was a year with good progress in the company, a year that underscored the value of a strong purpose and a readiness for the company to build for the future. And on behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all Novo Nordisk employees for their dedication and contribution to the good operational and strategic progress in 2021, to Lars and his team for their leadership and to our shareholders and other stakeholders for continued support. Let me now turn to the introduction of my fellow Board colleagues. We have, during the past year, had excellent collaboration in the Board due to COVID-19 restrictions. Some of our meetings have been virtual in 2021, but we met in person as much as possible. All my fellow Board members are present here today, either in person or virtually. This brings me to the executive management who are also present here today in person in Copenhagen or participating virtually. Under the leadership of President and CEO, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, the management team ensured good operational and strategic progress in the past year, which I will come back to a little later. Also present in person is Anders Dons from the company's auditors, Deloitte. And finally, I can inform you that the Board of Directors again this year has appointed Attorney Klaus Søgaard to act as Chair of the General Meeting. And Klaus is this year joined on stage by his colleague, Louise Korpela. Louise will be attentive to the shareholders participating virtually. And in this, Klaus, I leave it to you to take us through the agenda. Thank you.

Thank you very much. To the formalities first, before we come to the more interesting part of the general meeting. My first obligation is to make sure that the meeting today is legally convened and is competent to transact business. There are certain requirements in the Articles of Association and in Danish law that has to be complied with. Fortunately, I have checked that prior to coming here today. So in a minute or so, I'll end up with the conclusion that the meeting is duly convened and competent to transact business. But I would like to mention some of the requirements that follows from the law on the articles. First of all, the meeting must be called with a notice published on the company's web page. It must be forwarded by mail to those shareholders who have requested that. It must be published via the stock exchange through a company announcement, and it must take place with no more than 5 weeks' notice and no less than 3 weeks' notice, and here it took place the 21st of February. I've also checked that the agenda is in accordance with law on articles and that the required documents actually have been posted on the home page. Three of the proposals we will handle today under item 8, that's 8.1, 8.3 and 8.5, will involve amendment to the Articles of Association. In order to be approved, it is a requirement that they will be approved with at least 2/3 of the votes and 2/3 of the capital represented. All other items can be approved with a simple majority. Final approval of the proposals concerning the articles can only take place if shareholders representing at least 2/3 of all votes in the company actually are present today. This is a so-called quorum requirement, and it is fulfilled today, so we won't have to have an extraordinary general meeting as a follow-up, but I'll come back to that in a minute. Based on these facts, I have, as mentioned, concluded that the meeting is duly convened, and we can actually decide on all items on the agenda. Shareholders have the right to specific items to be put on the agenda for the general meeting if they forward such request to the company no later than 6 weeks prior to the general meeting. No such requests have been received neither before nor after that time limit. So we don't have any shareholder proposals on the agenda today, but we have the proposals from the Board of Directors. With regard to the attendance, I can inform you that 674 admission cards have been issued. 496 of those were to shareholders, the rest to guests or advisers. 422 of these shareholders have indicated that they wanted to be present here in Bella Center today, whereas 74 have indicated that they expect to participate virtually. In addition to that, of course, there could be a lot of people following the general meeting with a simple webcast, but without the right to vote and ask questions. In addition to this, 193 have issued a power of attorney to the Board. And a high number, almost 3,000, it's 2,953, have forwarded their specific votes to the company or to Computershare prior to the meeting, and 48 have forwarded postal votes. In total, approximately 45% of the total capital of the company and 82% of the maximum number of votes is actually represented today either through being here or through the votes they have already cast prior to the general meeting. So that's a high number of capital and of votes. I can also inform the general meeting that much more than 90% of all represented votes, including those already rendered, have already been given in support of the Board's proposals. Therefore, I can promise you that there is absolutely no doubt that the proposals on the agenda today will actually be adopted with a large majority, but that should not prevent a good discussion concerning the individual items. But perhaps it might result in the fact that we don't need a formal vote on each of the items. So I will not arrange for votes unless it is specifically requested by somebody. But of course, all the numbers with regard to those who have already voted will follow from the minutes of the meeting, which will be posted in accordance with law no later than 2 weeks following the general meeting today. Shareholders today are participating in 3 different ways. That's something new this year. First of all, people in person here in Bella Center, and it's so nice to stand in front of real people and not just a camera. Secondly, virtually via the Computershare meeting services, where it's possible as a shareholder who have registered like we have here in Bella Center to actually follow the meeting and to vote and to ask questions to the extent they have questions. And the third group is those who do not need perhaps to vote or who have already voted by postal vote, just to follow the webcast via the Novo Nordisk homepage. I'll give a little information with regard to these 3 groups, especially because it is a new process we are following this year. First, for those who are present here, if you later today want to speak, then please move up here where I'm pointing on the first row. We have reserved a few seats up here for those who want to speak so we don't have to waste time on getting from the back of the room and up to here. If we need to vote, which I don't think we will, but of course, it can be relevant, the ballot will automatically appear on the screen of the device you have. It was opened and registered when you registered for the meeting here today. I have registered myself as a shareholder. I won't tell you what I'm going to vote. But I can see that it worked for me. So I hope it does for all of you. If it doesn't, when we come to that situation, just put up a hand and there will be a lot of people here who can assist you. That was for those who are present here. For the second group, those who are participating virtually via the Computershare system, you may submit comments using the Q&A function, which is clearly indicated on the screen. You just click on the Q&A icon, which is specified. You select the relevant agenda item. And then you write your comments. There's a maximum of 2,000 typing possibilities. But believe me, it takes a lot of time to write 2,000. So do it as short as possible. Otherwise, the general meeting might be over before we receive it in here. And when you have written your comments or your question, click send and it will be received here. The messages will be received at a moderator desk, and then from the moderator desk here forward it to my colleague, Louise Korpela, who is sitting on the podium next to me. Louise will read the comments on behalf of the shareholders, and we'll then get the answer from the CEO or from the Chairman of the Board. If we need to vote, again, I don't think it will be necessary, but if we need to vote, then those who are participating virtually can also vote. And that will be through the use either of the blue bar at the top or the actual vote icon. If you have technical reason -- not reason but technical questions, there is a telephone number you can call. It's on the screen right now. It's a Danish number, 45 for Denmark and then 45 46 09 97, but it's also written on the material received. The third group is those who are just watching the open webcast on the Your Homepage. You are very welcome to watch. You cannot participate, you cannot vote. You cannot ask questions, but you can follow the general meeting in the same way as you have been able to follow it the previous years. All the resolutions of the meeting here today, together with the reflection of these discussions, will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting, which will be available no later than 2 weeks from today. That was all the boring formalities. And now we can get to realities and to the facts which have brought you to come here, and that is the actual agenda. And the first 5 items on the agenda will be presented together. One of the reasons for that is, of course, that it makes sense to do this together; and secondly, it gives those who participate virtually a chance to write their comments or their questions while we spend some time listening to the report from the Board and from the management. So I would just repeat again, for those who participate virtually, if you know there is something you will say, please write it, type it now so we get it here on time. If something comes too late for the actual decision on the items, it's not so bad because we will certainly pick it up then when we get to the bottom of the agenda. That was my words, and I will hand over from here to the CEO, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen. Please Lars, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Klaus, and thank you, Helge. And once again, a warm welcome from me to all of you, at least you who participate in person. It is indeed a special feeling to have an audience when you do a general meeting like this, but also a warm welcome to those of you participating virtually. Before I go into 2021 performance, I must address the situation in Ukraine. As a health care company striving to improve the health and well-being of people across the globe, Novo Nordisk stands against all acts of violence and aggression and condemns the invasion of Ukraine. As mentioned by Helge, our first priority is to ensure the safety of our employees and their families. Although our offices in the besieged capital of Kyiv were shuttered on the 24th of February, we remain in regular contact with our Ukrainian colleagues, all of whom have been reported unharmed at this time. We provided emergency funds to all affected employees to help meet the cost of evacuation and released the yearly bonus early. We coordinated support to help any employee that wanted to leave Ukraine with the ability to do so. Secondly, it is important that patients have access to medicine. Novo Nordisk donated up to 2 months' supply of diabetes and hemophilia medication to the Ukrainian Ministry of Health and, together with the humanitarian organizations, we continue to assess and monitor the situation to see if we need to do more. We have suspended further marketing and clinical investments in Russia, and we are focusing our efforts to help our local employees and to ensure more than 700,000 patients can continue their treatment with our essential medication. The factory in Russia is still operating to supply medication to patients in Russia. Medicines are not typically subject to sanctions, but we are aligned with the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and associations and we'll continue to monitor the situation. Sales in Russia and Ukraine constituted less than 1% of Novo Nordisk's global sales in 2021. Within development, we are not starting new clinical trials in Russia, and we are halting active enrollment of new patients into ongoing trials, where there are currently around 3,000 patients enrolled in Russia. This is by no means an easy situation. Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine, our employees and our patients. Now turning to 2021 performance, the pandemic has once again been the backdrop of continued disruption. And without the resilience and collaborative spirit shown by colleagues across the organization and our many partners, it simply had not been possible to deliver the strong performance we saw in 2021. Our purpose has never been more relevant than it is right now. The strategic aspirations 2025 consists of our 4 dimensions -- consists of 4 dimensions, which provide clear midterm direction on how we deliver on our purpose and drive growth. Before I take you through some of the key milestones in 2021, I want to point you to 3 changes to our strategic aspirations that were published at our recent Capital Markets Day earlier this month. On the purpose and sustainability, which includes what is more commonly known as ESG, we now also highlight the employee dimension by aspiring to be recognized as a sustainable employer. Under commercial execution, we reflect the strong momentum seen within obesity care, especially in the light of the patient response and demand for Wegovy, and the previous aspiration of doubling obesity sales is now updated to more than DKK 25 billion in sales by '25. Lastly, we have changed the name of our biopharm franchise to Rare Disease. You heard Helge talk to the external challenges that people around the world face, one as being the environmental challenges that pose a threat to people. As a global company, we not only have responsibility of reducing our own emissions, but also to inspire and support stakeholders. That is why we, in 2021, committed to reaching net zero emissions across the value chain by 2045. The key priorities here are to avoid emissions and ultimately reduce emissions fully. We will also adhere to the science-based target index to live up to the targets set out in the Paris Agreement. In the annual report 2021, we decided to report not only on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, but also to start demonstrate the progress partly made on Scope 3 emissions. Initiatives already in place today has meant a 43% CO2 reduction when compared to 2019. We are driving -- we are driven by our purpose of defeating diabetes and other serious growing diseases. While complex inequalities in health care remain the biggest barrier, our core contribution is innovation, aiming at delivering real change in the communities we serve. In 2021, almost 35 million people with diabetes were treated with Novo Nordisk products, and more than 5 million of them were reached through various affordability programs. Under our Changing Diabetes in Children program, we are almost 1/3 of the way towards our aspiration of no child to die from Type 1 diabetes and reaching 100,000 children in low-resource settings by 2030. Our access to care goes beyond pricing. 2021 was also the year where we submitted documentation to the European authorities supporting extended storage time outside of refrigeration for human insulin. This will improve access and benefit patients living in humanitarian settings or countries with challenged weather conditions and limited access to refrigeration. Largely under our sustainable employee aspiration and with our core belief in the value of thought diversity, we launched in 2021 an aspirational gender diversity target. This aspirational target is set as: we want to ensure accountability among leaders and accelerate progress, while believing that this will inspire improved diversity on other parameters as well. As mentioned, innovation is what drives value for patients, societies and the future of our business. 2021 was a year with solid pipeline progress across disease areas. In diabetes, we took a big step forward with bringing innovation to China in the form of Xultophy and Ozempic, with the latter now being included in the National Drug Reimbursement List as of January 2022. We also submitted Ozempic 2.2 milligram for regulatory approval in the U.S. and EU. And in January 2022, we received the approval while still expecting to get feedback from the U.S. later this month. Within obesity, we successfully completed both the Phase III program in children for somapacitan known as Sogroya, and the Phase I/II trial for Mim8. We are pleased with the solid progress for the rare disease pipeline, and we're excited to be filing for regulatory submission later this year for Sogroya and starting treatment of patients in the Phase III program for Mim8. We have taken significant steps from a clinical point of view within other serious growing diseases, which is a basket term for adjacent areas such as cardiovascular disease, NASH, Alzheimer's disease and chronic kidney disease. In 2021, we initiated Phase III programs in cardiovascular disease with ziltivekimab, in NASH with semaglutide 2.4 milligram injectable and in Alzheimer's disease with oral semaglutide 14 milligram. Lastly, we broadened our technology platforms with the acquisition of Dicerna and the RNA technology, which we expect to deploy across multiple disease areas. During 2021, we exceeded expectations. We grew our business and we served more patients. For diabetes care, we progressed on our aspiration of reaching more than 1/3 of the diabetes value market. We gained 0.8% point market share and now hold 30.1% of the diabetes value market. Obesity care sales in 2021 increased by 55%, while rare disease delivered on the aspiration of sustained growth with a 4% sales growth. Turning to financials. We delivered 14% sales growth for the group and both operational units. Operating profit growth reflected the sales growth and continued investments in the future growth drivers and grew by 13%. In 2021, free cash flow ended at DKK 29 billion, which includes the impact from the Dicerna acquisition. Lastly, we remain committed to provide attractive capital allocation by returning DKK 41 billion to shareholders. As just mentioned, sales grew by 14% by both operational units and supported the double-digit growth across all 3 regions in international operations. All therapy areas supported the growth of 14%, with GLP-1 sales growing by 32%, insulin sales growing by 1%, obesity sales growing by 55% and rare disease sales by 4%, GLP-1 sales growth by 32%, with 52% sales growth in international operations and 25% growth in North America operations. The sales growth was driven by Ozempic, which has now been launched in 72 markets and supported by Rybelsus, which has now been launched in 29 markets. After a modest growth of 3% in obesity care sales in 2022 (sic) [ 2020 ] due to the global COVID-19 lockdowns, obesity care sales delivered 55% sales growth in 2021. Growth was driven by both operating units, with Saxenda in international operations and both Saxenda and Wegovy in North America operations. The 4% sales growth in rare disease was driven by new products Esperoct and Refixia as well as NovoSeven and NovoEight. Throughout 2021, we saw people living with obesity starting to seek treatment again, both in the U.S. and international operations. In June 2021, Wegovy was approved by the U.S. FDA. And within 2 weeks, we had sales reps detailing the product to physicians and products made available to pharmacies in the U.S. The pull we experienced from people with obesity in the U.S. was unexpected and overwhelming. In just 5 weeks after the launch, Wegovy prescription surpassed the number of Saxenda prescriptions 4 years after launch, creating supply constraints for Wegovy in the U.S. In December 2021, we were on track to resolve the supply constraints caused by the demand. However, the contract manufacturing organization filling Wegovy for the U.S. market had to stop all production due to issues related to current good manufacturing practices. The restart of the factory and the manufacturing of Wegovy is on track and we still expect to be able to meet demand in the U.S. by the second half of 2022, while additional capacity will be added in 2023. Ozempic was our largest growth driver in 2021 for the group, International Operations and North America Operations. GLP-1 continues to be underutilized given the many additional benefits of this treatment for people with Type 2 diabetes, as only around 3% of the global diabetes prescriptions are on GLP-1s. In International Operations, around 2% of prescriptions are GLP-1 and 14% of the value, while in North America, around 8% of diabetes prescriptions are GLP-1 and 32% of the value. In the U.S., we continue to take market share and gain market share in the fast-growing U.S. GLP-1 market, where we have a combined market share of 53.3% and the overall market growth around 30%. As mentioned previously, we had a strong trial initiation and regulatory year in 2021. Now we look to 2022, where we in additional -- addition to the expected feedback from the U.S. FDA on Ozempic 2.2 milligram, are looking forward to seeing the results of the Phase III program for insulin icodec and the Phase II results for Cagrisema in diabetes later this year. Within obesity care, we expect to initiate Phase III for Cagrisema towards the end of 2022. As mentioned in my opening, we have already, in 2022, seen some strong results from our rare disease pipeline: Phase I/II results from Mim8, supporting the initiation of Phase III; somapacitan in children ready for regulatory submission in the first half of '22; and for concizumab, we have already seen encouraging Phase III results from explorer7 within the inhibitor segment and are eagerly awaiting the explorer8 results with concizumab in the non-inhibitor segments. In closing, I want to reiterate that during 2021, we exceeded expectations on many fronts: growing our business, serving more patients and expanding our pipeline for long-term success. We are working hard to ensure patients can again trust that we can supply Wegovy, and we continue to progress on our efforts for being a sustainable company. I want to take this opportunity to thank all my colleagues around the globe for their hard work and commitment during another demanding year, as well as the Board of Directors and our shareholders for your continued support. Thank you very much. We have now reached Item 2 on the agenda presentation and adaptation of the statutory annual report 2021. The annual report was published on 2nd of February, 2022, and included financial results and the outlook for 2022. Sales grew by 14% at constant exchange rates and 11% in Danish kroner, while operating profit grew by 13% and 8%, respectively. Looking over the functional lines. Cost of goods sold increased by 13% in Danish kroner, resulting in a gross margin of 83.2%. Sales and distribution costs increased by 12% in Danish kroner, driven by both operational units and launch activities for Rybelsus and Ozempic, as well as market development activities within obesity. Research and development costs increased by 15%, driven by increased activity levels within other serious growing diseases, reflecting the pipeline progression in cardiovascular disease and NASH. Administration costs increased by 2%. Net financial items showed a gain of DKK 436 million, driven by gains on hedged currencies, primarily related to the U.S. dollar, and the effective tax rate was 19.2%. Furthermore, net profit increased by 11%. Total assets increased by around DKK 50 billion to DKK 194.5 billion from the end of 2020 to the end of 2021. The increase in total assets is primarily driven by nonrecurring assets due to the acquisition of Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Free cash flow increased from DKK 28.6 billion in 2020 to DKK 29.3 billion in 2021. The increase was driven by higher net profit and higher provisions for rebates in the U.S., partially driven by the changed distribution policy for the 340B program. Hereby, we conclude the presentation of the income statement and balance sheet. Now over to you, Helge, for the proposed capital allocation to the shareholders.

Thank you very much, Lars. In 2021, Novo Nordisk exceeded expectations with strong financial performance despite the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic. We delivered on our financial guidance and invested for both short- and long-term growth opportunities. Further, we are satisfied with the progress made on our strategic aspirations. Our performance has also resulted in a continued attractive capital allocation to our shareholders. In 2021, the dividend payout ratio was 49.6% and Novo Nordisk continued to buy back shares, to return cash to shareholders, resulting in DKK 41 billion returned to shareholders. I will close with a few words about what to expect in 2022. In the annual report, we have stated that the sales are expected to grow between 6% and 10% measured at constant exchange rates. The guidance reflects continued strong momentum in our GLP-1 franchise within both diabetes care and obesity care, as well as support from rare disease. It also accounts for intensifying competition within diabetes care and rare disease. Furthermore, continued pricing pressure within diabetes, especially in the U.S., is expected to impact sales. Operating profit growth is expected to be between 4% and 8% measured at constant exchange rates, reflecting the sales outlook as well as continued investments in current and future growth drivers. Reported sales growth is expected to be around 5 percentage points higher, and operating profit growth is expected to be around 7 percentage points higher, both relative to constant exchange rates. You can read more about the assumptions in the annual report. This brings me to the item 3 on the agenda, resolution to distribute the profit. And in 2021, Novo Nordisk returned around DKK 41 billion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends. And in August 2021, Novo Nordisk paid an interim dividend of DKK 3.50 per share. And the Board proposes that the final dividend for 2021 is DKK 6.90 per share, which is to be paid -- which is to be paid this month. Consequently, the total dividend will be DKK 1.40 per share, and the total dividend increased by 14.3% compared with 2020, corresponding to a payout ratio, as I already said, at 49.6%. No dividend will be paid on the company's holding of own shares. Moreover, early February this year, the Board approved a new share repurchase program for up to DKK 22 billion to be executed over the course of 12 months. The total program may be reduced in size in case of a significant bolt-on acquisition. So on that note, now back to you, Klaus.

Thank you, and that was the presentation of the first 3 items on the agenda, and you might be surprised to see me here as I started out by saying that we would have a presentation of the first 5 items together. The reason I'm here is just to urge those who participate not being present here but virtually, if they have questions, comments to the report that we have heard or to the next 2 items, 4 and 5, then please type it now so we have it here when we open for questions after Item 5. But it brings us on to the 2 last items under the first block of items. That is 4, presentation of the remuneration report from last year in 2021; and Item 5, the Board remuneration, which is divided into 2, the final approval of the year remuneration for 2021, which was preapproved last year, and the year suggestion for the level for 2022. And I hand the word back to Helge Lund, to the Chairman.

Again, this year, we have published a report on Board and executive remuneration, which is accessible on our website. And let me give a description of the executive remuneration for 2021. In 2020, the Annual General Meeting approved a new remuneration policy effective for the executives in 2021, and the overall value of the remuneration was considered appropriate. Thus, the intention was not to change the remuneration level. Instead, several changes were made to each component: base salary, pension, short-term incentive and long-term incentive. And consequently, this is the first time that we report on executive remuneration after the changes have been implemented. The total CEO remuneration in 2021 was DKK 58.3 million, that's 3% up compared to 2020, thus maintaining the overall remuneration level as intended. The new incentive programs have been designed to support our strategic aspirations for 2025, as shown on the slide. As such, the incentive targets capture the broad aspects of Novo Nordisk's business, including purpose and sustainability, the sustained growth opportunities until 2025 across therapy areas and geographies, as well as future growth drivers of Novo Nordisk in the research and development pipeline. By doing so, we ensure that there is a close alignment between the interest of our shareholders, other stakeholders and the executives. For the short-term incentive, the performance in 2021 resulted in 75% payout. This is due to very good business performance, both in relation to the financial targets as well as the nonfinancial targets. Moreover, Lars provided a solid and consistent leadership based on our purpose and values. However, the incentive was also negatively impacted by the supply challenges that we faced in 2021. For the long-term incentive, the good business performance supporting our strategic aspirations for 2025 resulted in the incentive tracking above target. Again, this year, we have benchmarked the CEO remuneration relative to the Nordic peer group. The CEO remuneration is above the upper quartile. But when comparing against the European pharma peer group, the CEO remuneration is below the lower quartile. In 2021, the executive remuneration was in line with the new remuneration policy. In addition, the Board finds that the changes made to salary, pension and incentive programs have worked well, creating a good balance between fixed and variable remuneration, with terms more aligned to those of the remaining workforce and with a strong link to our strategic aspirations for 2025. In conclusion, the Board finds the total remuneration of the executives to be at the right level. This brings me to the approval of the actual Board remuneration for 2021 and the remuneration level for 2022. Elaborate information about the Board's remuneration is provided in the remuneration report, so I will focus only on a few elements. The Board remuneration consists of a fixed annual base fee, a multiplier of the fixed base fee for the Chair Committee and members of the Board committees, fees for ad hoc tasks and a travel allowance as shown on the slide. At the Annual General Meeting in March 2021, it was decided to increase the annual base fee for Board members to DKK 736,000, and the actual remuneration for the members of the Board for 2021 amounted to DKK 17.1 million in total, which corresponds to the remuneration level approved by the Annual General Meeting last year. We also compare board fees to other Nordic companies and European pharma companies. Measuring against the Nordic benchmark, our board fees are in the higher end. However, when we compare against peers in the European pharma industry, our board fees are with a few exceptions in the lower end. On this background, the Board proposes to the general meeting to adopt the actual remuneration for 2021. As regards to the remuneration level for 2022, the Board proposes to adjust the remuneration level in line with general salary inflation and thus increase remuneration by 2.6%, resulting in a base fee level of DKK 755,000. In addition, the Board proposes that the travel allowance is similarly adjusted in line with the salary inflation, and the proposed remuneration level is as shown on the slide. The Board proposes that the general meeting adopts this remuneration level for 2022, and the Board expects to undertake a general review of the Board remuneration levels during 2022 in light of the general market developments for board remuneration, as well as the developments in Novo Nordisk business. Based on the review, the Board may submit the proposal for adjusted Board remuneration to the Annual General Meeting in 2023. So on that note, back to you, Klaus.

Thank you. You might not be surprised to see me here now because that was the presentation of the first 5 items on the agenda. And now we will open up for questions and comments. And again, I would like to repeat that those who are participating virtually, please type your message right now so we get it in time to treat it here. If something comes late or too late, we'll pick it up when we get to the end of the agenda. I have already received a few sign-ups for speaking right now. And I would first give here the floor to Claus Berner Møller from ATP. Claus will come up here. And if anybody else know that they are going to speak later, please move to the first row.

Thank you for the floor. My name is Claus Berner Møller, and I represent ATP. I would like to begin by thanking for the report. Sales growth measured in constant exchange rates was amazing 14% in 2021, exceeding the guidance at the beginning of the year. Geographically, the growth is broad-based, with growth in International Operations and North America both by 14%. All 3 segments with products on the market delivered fantastic, good or acceptable growth, with obesity care in the lead with 55% growth in constant exchange rates. The challenge in the obesity care segment is that the Wegovy demand is much higher than the company is able to supply to the market. This is a very critical situation, and in the pharma industry, with a very high gross margin, you should never end up in such a situation. My question is, what can Novo Nordisk do to prevent such a situation to occur again in the future? But still, 2021 was a very successful year with industry-leading growth rates, and shareholders received a share price increase of 72%. That's not bad. The GLP-1 products in Novo Nordisk grew with around 30% in 2021 and are growing very fast also in 2022. That is great, but the patent expiration of semaglutide in 8 to 10 years from now is a tremendous challenge. Novo Nordisk has already for several years tried to broaden the therapeutic focus, increase collaboration [ will ] and utilization of external expertise in licensing products and technologies, and even bought companies. These are all the right things to do, but it is a race against time because the magnitude of the patent expiration of semaglutide is growing fast every year. I would also like to mention that Novo Nordisk has reduced the CO2 emission from 2019 to 2021 with 43%, which is good news. Finally, I have a few comments on gender diversity. As of 2021, women fill 43% of all leadership positions and 36% of senior leadership position in Novo Nordisk. Pleased that Novo Nordisk takes a leadership position in gender diversity. And now I just want to wish Novo Nordisk and their employees all the best for 2022. Thank you.

Thank you to Claus Berner Møller from ATP. And I'll give the floor to Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen to receive the nice words and to answer the specific question.

Yes. Thank you to ATP for coming here today and specifically to you, Claus, for your kind words. We appreciate it, obviously. Your challenge on how to avoid supply issues in the future is a really fair challenge. We are not proud about the situation we are in. We need to have a more strategic perspective on how we size capacities. And if we reflect on the growth in Novo Nordisk today, well, last year, it was 14%, and that comes at a time where our pricing is going down. So underlying volume growth is significantly higher than the 14%. Last time we were at double-digit growth, it was based on single-digit volume growth and price increase on top of that. So we have never ever -- well, perhaps many, many years back. But in newer time, we have not had anything that resembles the volume growth we have today, so we need to have a different perspective on how we size capacity, and we just discussed that with the Board today. And we are going to invest significantly in building resilience in our supply chain. So we are set up to grab the opportunities we have in the future, which will be harder for us to forecast because when you enter new markets where there is not efficacious treatment, obesity is a market that's bigger than the diabetes market, and there is no other products than what we bring so far. When we look at NASH or when we look at Alzheimer's disease, these are high-risk areas we might not succeed. But if we do succeed, we will also be among very few companies, if any, to take those markets and help those patients. So we need a much bolder and more strategic approach to how we build capacities. And you'll see that we'll have to spend some of our cash flow that we would otherwise be returning to shareholders on building that capacity so we can sustain growth also in the coming years. Thank you.

Thank you. And your next speaker is Mr. Kjeld Beyer from the Danish Shareholders' Association. Kindly come up here. And again, I would repeat anybody else who wants to speak, please come to the first row. And for those who are participating virtually, please type now.

[Interpreted] Thank you for giving me the floor. I'm going to speak Danish, so you can use the fancy headsets [ whenever there's time ]. Kjeld Beyer, and I represent the Danish Shareholders' Association with 18,000 members, many of which have shares in Novo Nordisk, like I have. We are very pleased to be able to participate, once again, in a physical shareholders' meeting. It gives us a better dialogue and a better possibility of understanding each other. Our key causes this year in our association, I would call it good investment. By good investment, we mean transparency, regularity and capability, 3 parameters which Novo live up to fully. The results are very satisfactory, growth in sales and profits, and growth which makes it possible to foresee more growth. This gives us grounds to think that Novo is a growth share. And also there's a greater focus on ESG, which is very important today. This and Doctors without Borders set a standard for equal treatment. And I think that we think that Novo should have a similar principle of medicine without frontiers. Nobody should suffer because of ethnicity or nationality. Novo has been a quality share in good, bad and difficult times. Thank you to the Board and to the executive management for that. As shareholders, we depend very on transparency, 104-page report in English. Well, that's quite good. We have seen them much worse in many other cases, and the Danish 64-page version is a very good and useful and necessary as we have for many Danish shareholders. And the investor presentation with 144 shares with a lot of graphics give a very good presentation for those who are able to read that kind of information. There are quarter-by-quarter information, which make it possible to understand development throughout the year. And we are pleased that the executive management understand and many shareholders desire very short and succinct information whereas others want very detailed information. The Wegovy stop in United States was one of the great news items of this year, and the explanation was from what to do with quality problems and other problems in the United States. And well, that shows that you can only ensure quality of production for your own products. So I'd like to ask you what happens if, say, a product in Kalundborg has problems? Does that mean that other products would have to be stopped as well only because they are being produced in the same site? And to end, on behalf of the Danish Shareholders' Association, I'd like to thank the Board and the executive management for yet another excellent report and look forward to be able to pleasure again at next year's shareholders' meeting.

[indiscernible] this association, and I'll just emphasize that it is, of course, possible to comment and ask questions in Danish as also indicated in the notice for the general meeting. And I'll hand over the floor to Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen to reply.

[Interpreted] Thank you to the Shareholders' Association and to Kjeld Beyer for the kind words, and we hope to see and hear you here again next year. We'll be working hard to make that happen. And about your concrete question whether a problem in one production side might impact other products. I know you mentioned Kalundborg specifically. And the thing is, in Kalundborg, we have a large number of factories which are registered as individual factories, individual companies. So problems in one factory will not impact other factory of things. But the short answer is that Kalundborg will not close down simply because we have a problem with one product in one factory.

Thank you. And I would like to emphasize again that those who participate virtually still can type a question or a comment to us. Louise Korpela, who is following the virtual universe next to me has told me that at present, there are no such comments coming in virtually, but you still have a chance. I would say that here from the audience, the next speaker is Peter [ Wilcon ] from Kritiske Aktionærer, who have asked to comment. Very welcome up here.

[Interpreted] Thank you, and thank you for this report. I also prefer to speak in Danish, so I hope you're okay with that. As you heard, I represent critical shareholders. I'm also a health spokesperson for the Red-Green Alliance. So I'd like to talk a bit about the pandemic that we've gotten through, more or less. So there's one thing we have learned from that is that it's a global world in which we live. The health situation in the world is a global issue. No country can feel safe until all countries feel safe. And this is also -- we have seen with the unrolling of vaccines globally, it's been very distorted. There's been a big difference between when you can vaccinate in the richest part of the world and when you could vaccinate, for instance, in Africa. If you look at vaccination rates in Africa now, they're still quite low -- it's still quite low, still less than 10% have been vaccinated. So major consequences for the local population and also for the health systems in the most exposed countries. Another thing we've learned is that we do have the ability and the capacity to develop vaccines quickly when the need is there. We are actually able, through human and knowledge, we are able to develop new vaccines. We are able to deliver a vaccine rather quickly. It gives a challenge because there are some diseases that we do not develop medicines or vaccines for. Tuberculosis, for instance, you have to develop new antibiotics there. There are challenges which mean that we'll lose a lot of people. Tuberculosis kills 1.5 million people every year. And that's why that makes me wonder that we have a good, well-driven company such as Novo Nordisk, which generates a huge profit, I think the profit this year is about -- is at DKK 47 million, I think -- oh, I'm sorry. This thing about billions and millions sometimes, our case, DKK 47 billion, it is not million, says the speaker. But anyway, yes, anyway, so you pay out half of that in dividend. So this year is like DKK 23 billion you'll pay out in dividend, DKK 17 billion to private shareholders, DKK 14 billion to foreign shareholders. And it makes me wonder, why don't you say it's essential to have a company where we reinvest the profit that we make. Why don't we use that profit to reduce our prices, for instance, of the prices we sell in the U.S. because we know that there are big groups that cannot afford medication because of pricing. It's not just Novo's fault. It's a matter of how the health system is organized in those countries. But there is a certain responsibility, I think. When you create a good profit in your company, how do you decide to spend that profit? And I cannot understand, when you have such a huge profit, almost DKK 50 billion, why don't you say, well, let's invest that in global health rather than paying the money out to shareholders? So I would prefer to see Novo starting up a strategy, as we proposed before, a strategy where you buy out private shareholders so you don't have to consider capitalist profit, but you think more about global health. You produce with the purpose of reducing prices, but also in order to develop new vaccines and new medication. I'd also just like to address the question of the remuneration of the CEO. I have no doubt that wonderful piece of work is being done, but it's really not a development that's okay. It's like DKK 58 million. DKK 58 million is the salary. And in 2017, it was at DKK 38.8 million. It's an increase of 45% over 4 years. In 2017, it was like 44x what an average employee at Novo Nordisk receives. In 2021, it's 74x what the average employee of Novo Nordisk earns. So it's really a distorted development of these remuneration levels. You should address that. And finally, and our -- I just want to say thank you for the replies we have received concerning the company in Kalundborg, and the water discharge from [ Tiswu ]. I know a process has been started. And we're looking forward to getting that reply. And hopefully, it will be part of the global responsibility vis-a-vis the climate and nature that is natural for Novo to undertake. So thank you for your attention.

Thank you. And before I give the floor to Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen to answer at least some of the questions here, I'll repeat, if somebody else wants to speak here from the audience, please let me see it now because otherwise, I will close here the comments and the debate after the answer. And we are, of course, following -- Louise Korpela is following the virtual participation, and we have no pending questions from the space. So I'll give the floor to Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen to answer the questions.

[Interpreted] Thank you to critical shareholders and Peter [ Wilcon ] for your questions concerning Kalundborg that we have replied to. We look forward to reporting progress in a year's time. And I think something wasn't questions. It was more of a comment concerning our business activity and what we focus on. In my report, I hope you got the impression that we are really trying to spread into other disease areas. But we are aware that if you have to be successful, you have to go to adjacent areas where you understand the technology. That is necessary. So really, stay with what you know is really what we are talking about. If you move into completely new disease areas where you don't understand the new technological areas, there's a great risk that you're not going to succeed. Looking at global health, we are trying to address one of the biggest health challenges that exists, obesity and cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular disease is one of the biggest causes of death in the world. We are trying to develop products that can reduce that strongly. So we are not going to move into vaccines because we don't understand about vaccines. And if you look at the antimicrobial resistance, another big challenge that could affect the world, we have supported a foundation that is trying to be innovative in that field. We are trying to share responsibility by funding activities in some of these difficult areas. I'd also like to comment on the matter of insulin prices in the U.S., and thank you for noticing that. The complexity in the American health system plays an important role. I think you've all heard about insulin prices in the U.S. So today, I'd just like to tell you that insulin prices in the U.S., what we get as a company, is the same as we get for insulin in Europe. There are patients that go to the pharmacy. If they don't have health care, and sometimes they pay many times more than what we get for the product because the discounts that we give are not shared with the patient. That is a huge problem. That's why we are trying to make support programs. I mentioned 5 million out of the 35 million that we treat, 5 million out of those are on support programs and 1 million of those are Americans. So that despite the financial capacity in the U.S. society, 1/5 of those that we support are people that -- it's Americans that fall outside the health system, affected by the structure in that market. And if you are dependent on insulin in the U.S. and all of a sudden you're in a situation where you cannot get insulin, you can get free insulin from Novo Nordisk. No American needs to ration the medication. Now contact Novo Nordisk, you'll get free medication. Thank you.

Yes, and there was an outstanding comments in respect of the salary to the management board and to the CEO. Is that something for Helge Lund?

[Interpreted] Yes. Thank you very much. That's a very good question. First of all, I'd like to say that the remuneration of the CEO is high by Danish and Nordic standards. But if you look at it in the context of a broader European pharma industry, well then the CEO remuneration is at the lower end. And as a company, we have our own remuneration system which allows us to be competitive and to recruit and develop the right people, wherever they operate. But we also need to have a remuneration system which is understood and accepted in the societies in which we operate. And that is a discussion which is always ongoing in the Board. We have a Remuneration Committee which works constantly with these questions. And globally, I think we have a structure and a system for remuneration of management and Board in Novo Nordisk which is competitive and fair. And I should add that the figures for 2021 reflect the fact that, that was really a very, very good year for Novo Nordisk and for our shareholders.

Thank you. Anybody else who wants to comment, say something here in the audience. That is not the case. Nothing has shown up from the virtual participants. That means that I close the debate on the first 5 items on the agenda. And then we will just go through the items so we can formally approve them. The first one was your oral report. That's not something which we vote on. It's something we debate. And when nobody else wants to say anything, the debate is closed. So the audience have taken note of the report. The second item is the presentation and adoption of the annual report for 2021. I see no further comments. So I will state that it has been adopted by the general meeting. The next item is 3, distribution of profit. And where the proposal is that a further payment per share of DKK 6.9 will take place here in March, which is in addition to what was paid previously, a total of DKK 10.4. It can be reduced by the audience but not increased, and I have not heard any opposition this far, so I'll consider that approved except, of course, with the comment from Kritiske Aktionærer. With regard to Item 4, it is your presentation and advisory vote as it is called in the law of the remuneration report. It has been reviewed. No further questions, so I will consider it to be adopted. Item 5 has 2 items. First, it is the remuneration for 2021 to the Board of Directors. As I said initially, that amount was preapproved last year, and it's the suggestion that it should be approved unchanged now, which I expect it will be. So I'll say that it has been approved and adopted. 5.2 is the present year where there is an indication of the level of the remuneration, where it will be finally approved next year -- at next year's general meeting like we just did in 5.1 for 2021. Here, the Board proposes an increase similar to the salary inflation of 2.6%. Again, I will conclude that it has been approved and adopted by the general meeting. That was the first 5 items on the agenda. The next 2 items, 6 and 7, will be presented together, again in order to make it possible for those who participate virtually to write questions and comments while we go through it. So when we have had your presentation of both these items, I will come back and conclude on what the decision might be at that time. Item 6, the first one, is election of members to the Board of Directors. The rules concerning election to the Board can be found in the Articles of Association, Article 10, Section 2. All Board members are up for election every year, or the general meeting-elected Board members. The number of Board members appointed by the general meeting must be at least 4 and no more than 10. Presently, it is 8, as you will see later. The proposal for today is to increase it from 8 to 9. The term will be 1 year until next year's general meeting, and there is a specific rule in the articles that it's up to the general meeting to decide on who's going to be Chair of the Board and who is going to be Deputy Chair. So that will be a direct election or appointment made by the general meeting. It follows from the rules on good corporate governance that it is good governance to reflect on the results of the Board's annual self-evaluation before we turn to the election of the Board members. And I'll give the floor to Helge Lund.

Thank you, Klaus, and let me start with a few words on the collaboration among the Board members and the composition of the Board. As previously mentioned, we have had a very good collaboration in the Board, the recent year, and the cooperation with Lars and his team has been excellent. I think we balanced the discussions between short-term and long-term themes, as well as between operational and strategic matters, always with a view to ensuring that the company develops in the right direction, among other things to meet our strategic aspirations for 2025. Each year, the Board conducts a Board evaluation. In 2021, the evaluation was facilitated internally, and the overall outcome of the 2021 Board evaluation confirmed high board effectiveness, alignment on strategic priorities and focus areas, and high level of trust and commitment, and strong collaboration between the Board of Directors and Executive Management, and also further increased board meeting efficiency during the year. Key 2022 focus areas for the Board of Directors are longer-term strategy, talent and leadership development, succession and also diversity. When recommending candidates to be nominated, the Board takes into consideration the balance between renewal and continuity, to decide the competencies and experience, the performance of the individual board members, the ambition for diversity as well as independence. With the proposed candidates, we will fulfill our diversity ambition of being at least 2 shareholder-elected members of Nordic nationality and 2 of non-Nordic nationality, and supplemented by being at least 3 shareholder-elected Board members of each gender. However, the Board will continue to have diversity in all dimensions in mind when searching for candidates to ensure that the Board remains diverse. So with that, Klaus, back to you.

Thank you. And that brings us to the actual presentation of the candidates for the Board. The first item is 6.1, election of the chair. The Board's proposal is that Helge Lund is reelected as Chairman of the Board. I'll go through all the candidates before we come back to the comments, the Q&A, et cetera. The notice of the meeting includes references to Helge Lund's other positions with other companies, and I'll just refer to that. And at present, there are no other proposed candidates for this position. Item 6.2 on the agenda is the election of the Vice Chair. And here, you can see from the notice to the meeting that the Board proposes that Henrik Poulsen is elected Vice Chair of the Board of Directors. And I hand over to the Chairman of the Board, Mr. Helge Lund, to motivate the proposal.

Thank you, Klaus. Jeppe Christiansen has decided to seek election as a Board member and consequently not seek reelection as Vice Chair. I have been very pleased with working together with Jeppe as Vice Chair and his contributions in the Chair Committee, and I'm looking forward to continued collaboration with Jeppe in the Board. The Board proposes election of Henrik Poulsen as Vice Chair. Henrik joined the Board in 2021. And the Board of Directors recommends election of Henrik as Vice Chair, primarily because of his extensive executive board experience in large international companies, significant financial knowledge, and in-depth knowledge of business development, strategy, transformation, innovation, mergers and acquisition, as well as importantly, ESG. And Henrik is also assessed to have the personal qualifications to be Vice Chair. The nomination of Henrik Poulsen is in line with the planned succession process in relation to the Vice Chair position, and you can find Henrik's CV in the notice convening this general meeting. So with that, back to you, Klaus.

Thank you. And also here, I can say that at present, there are no other proposed candidates for this position on the Board. I'll then go on to Item 6.3, which is election of other members to the Board of Directors. And as it is right now, the Board proposes to reelect Jeppe Christiansen, as the Chairman just stated, Laurence Debroux, Andreas Fibig, Sylvie Gregoire, Kasim Kutay and Martin Mackay. And again, I will say that other functions can be seen from the call to the meeting here, so I'll just refer to that. In addition to the 6 reelections, the Board proposes that Christina Law is elected as a new member of the Board. And at present, there are no other candidates for the ordinary board seats. So the suggestion is that there will be 6 reelections and 1 new election, so that will amount to a total of 7 together with Chairman and Vice Chairman, making it 9 altogether compared to the 8 at present. And I'll give the word to Helge Lund to reason your proposal.

Thank you. The Board proposes election of Christina Law as new Board member, and Christina is of Chinese nationality and hold senior management positions in the Raintree Group. In her professional career, Christina Law has held a number of executive management positions in global companies such as General Mills, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble. And the Board proposes election of Christina Law, primarily as she will add important diverse perspectives to the Board through her deep leadership experience in Asia and other emerging markets, grow the consumer sector innovation experience as well as extensive executive experience from her leadership positions in big companies. You can see Christina's CV on the slide, and more details are provided in the notice convening this general meeting. So with that, back to you, Klaus.

Thank you. And to give the shareholders the full picture of the Board of Directors, I will also mention the employee representatives on the Board. Of course, they are not elected by the shareholders, but by the employees. Employee representatives are, in accordance with Danish law, appointed for a 4-year term. And that term expired this year. And there was a general vote among the employees of the company in February. The result of that was that Anne Marie Kverneland and Stig Strøbæk will step down from the Board of Directors, and that Mette Bøjer Jensen and Tom Rantzau were reelected. Elisabeth Dahl Christensen and Liselotte Hyveled were newly elected to the Board of Directors, which means that, again, there will be 4 employee representatives on the Board following the general meeting here. And the changes take effect at the close of this meeting here, which means very shortly from now. Before we actually conclude on this, again, allowing shareholders participating virtually to comment and write to us, I will also present Item #7 on the agenda. That is the appointment of auditors. And here, it is the Board's suggestion that the general meeting reappoints Deloitte as auditors of the company. This is a position where it is very unusual if there should be other candidates suggested today, but it is, in theory, at least a possibility. And that was actually the presentation of items #6 and #7. And I would open the floor for those who want to comment on the suggestions from the Board of Directors with regard to Chairman, Deputy Chairman, ordinary Board members and auditors of the company. There's nobody in here. I look at Louise Korpela. There is nothing from the virtual participants. So let's hope that really shows that everybody is happy with the proposal. At least that means that we have no other candidates, so we do not have to have a vote. And that means, of course, that Helge Lund is reappointed for 1 more year as Chairman of the Board; Henrik Poulsen is appointed as new Vice Chair of the Board; that Jeppe Christiansen, the previous Vice Chair, but now wanting to be an ordinary member of the Board, has been appointed as such. And that also goes for Laurence Debroux, Andreas Fibig, Sylvie Gregoire, Kasim Kutay, Martin Mackay and Christina Law, Christina Law being newly elected to the Board. Congratulations to all of you, and to Christina Law, who is present here. With regard to Item 7, I also take the opportunity to conclude that Deloitte will get another year and they smile to me here. That was items 6 and 7, and it brings us to Item 8 on the agenda. That includes 5 specific proposals made by the Board of Directors and shareholders, even though there are no proposals from shareholders, so it's only the 5 proposals from the Board of Directors. It can look like a lot when you look at the notice, but basically, it is of a technical character and not very far reaching. So it will be me presenting it. I'll present all 5 and then afterwards, possibility for questions and comments, and then we'll decide thereafter. 8.1 is basic business as usual. It's a reduction of the share capital with a nominal amount of 6 million. It is the shares of the company being acquired by the company during the previous year. They are normally canceled at the following general meeting in order to allow for a new program, which means that this item here is linked closely to Item 8.2. If it is adopted, and I expect that will be the case, it will take effect 4 weeks after it has been announced following the general meeting in accordance with Danish Law. 8.2 is a standard authorization to the Board to allow the company to repurchase own shares. Basically, all listed companies in Denmark ask for an authorization to buy up to 10% with a holding limit of 10% and with a possible deviation from the stock price of 10%. Novo Nordisk always ask for an authorization for 1 year until next year's general meeting. It can be granted for up to 5 years. But this year is standard as it has been during those many years I have been standing here. 8.3 is authorization to the Board of Directors to increase the company's share capital. That is an authorization the Board already has. The Board always asks for it for a 2-year period, which means that it's being renewed every year and then valid for a new 2-year period, which means that this one here is just a question of extending with one more year compared to what is already the case. At the same time, the authorization is being reduced. So it is still 10% of the reduced capital of the company following the cancellation of shares I was describing under Item 8.1. Item 8.4 is amendment to the remuneration policy. It is minor adjustments. It follows from the remuneration policy in this company, like in many other companies, that it is possible to make a payment of certain taxes being paid on remuneration paid to board members outside Denmark. And it has until now been reduced to EU countries and that limitation is suggested to be removed. So it's going to be in general whether within or without EU. And the other one was an exception that was in the previous remuneration policy that allowed a higher payments of salary in combination with severance payments to members of management leaving the company. It is no longer relevant because there are no such contracts. So this exception is being removed. The final item is Item 8.5, Amendment to the Articles of Association. As it is right now, there is a provision in the article stating that there is an age limit of 70 years for the members of the Board. That was a limit that was put in about 10 years ago when that was introduced as good corporate governance by the Corporate Governance Committee in Denmark. Today, the picture has changed. Today, it is considered not to be good corporate governance to have an age limit because, as institutional investors say, it's better that the shareholders have a larger pool of talent to choose between. So it's suggested to be deleted from the articles again. That was the 5 items under Item 8. Not so dramatic, but if you want to say something about it, you're very welcome. Anybody wanting to speak? Anybody from the virtual attendance? No. I'm very happy with the assistance from Louise Korpela, but it has been an easy job this year. Next year, I'll place some questions myself if I'm here again. That will allow me to go back with regard to the 5 items, and I will conclude that they have all been adopted, and I'll do that in one shot. Even though they have to be approved with different majorities, those that relate to the articles require 2/3 of the votes and 2/3 of the capital represented, whereas the 2 others is just a simple majority, but I think I can conclude that we have had that for all of them. That brings us to Item 9. That is the one called any other business. That's where you can get a chance to get up here and say something. Nothing can be decided, nothing can be voted upon, but it's possible to get up here. And allowing also those who are participating virtually to write any comments, I'll, first of all, give here the word to the Chairman, to Helge Lund.

Thank you, Klaus. And before we take any final shareholder questions, I would like to extend a big thanks to Anne Marie Kverneland and Stig Strøbæk, the 2 employee-elected Board members who are resigning today. And Stig has served on the Board since 1998 and has been a member of the Audit Committee since 2013. And Anne Marie has been a member of the Board since year 2000 and has since 2017 been a member of the Remuneration Committee. I would like to thank both Anne Marie and Stig for their valuable contributions to Novo Nordisk, to the work of the Board of Directors and in the Board committees on which they have served. So thank you. Back to you, Klaus.

Thank you, and I can see that there is not a line forming here of people who want to speak. I'll ask for the last time, anybody here who want to speak. I have an indication here. Please come up here and start by presenting yourself.

[Interpreted] Yes, I'm [ Tekke Andersen ]. I'm a diabetic. And when I go to the pharmacy and buy my insulin, I'm asked, do you want the cheap product or the expensive product? Makes you wonder because the product is the same. But the thing of it is that the cheap one has been to Spain where they put a new label on. That's all. So it makes me wonder why that makes it cheaper. I have once bought the product that was a parallel import via Spain. It turned out it had longer shelf life than the one with the original label on. What was -- and what about the pricing? It makes me wonder that insulin gets cheaper by going to Spain and a new label being put on and then parallel importation, right, because it's the same product. What is the reason for that? I'd like to know. And could that be stopped? So we just have like insulin from one factory from Novo. Because where it comes from Spain, maybe it's from a different factory if it's cheaper to make.

Thank you, [ Tekke Andersen ], [Interpreted] a very specific question. I think Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen can give a reply to that.

[Interpreted] Yes. Thank you, [ Tekke Andersen ], for your question. I can understand why it seems strange. I don't know precisely what product you're talking about. But I know in general that when we launched our insulin products in Spain, in Spain, we did it at prices that are basically the same as Denmark is quite many years ago. Since then, there has been a devaluation. Before Spain joined the EU, there was devaluation of the Spanish currency. Because of that, we ended up with lower prices in Spain than in Denmark. So today, some people have a business out of that. The products that we have sold to Spanish distributors, they put them on a truck and send them back to Denmark. And why the shelf life should be longer, I don't know. I can't explain that. Maybe you got a batch that was completely fresh, I don't know. And on other occasions, maybe you've got a batch -- a product from a batch that had a longer life in Denmark, probably from the same factory, the same production, but because of the devaluations that occurred before Spain joined the euro, that's why prices have developed differently over time. Thank you.

I would like to ask any more comments from the audience here. This is the last time I'm asking, so it's now or never. And Louise, nothing coming from the virtual participants? That means that I now have completed my job, and I'll hand over the floor to Helge Lund to close the general meeting. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. I would like to thank all the shareholders for attending this first hybrid Annual General Meeting, where shareholders could participate either in person or virtually. And in Novo Nordisk, we value and we are supportive of interactions with shareholders, including through the use of technology and formats, as has been the case today. We are all looking forward to the meeting -- to meeting you all again in the spring of 2023. And until then, please stay safe. I also want to thank the Chair of the meeting, Klaus Søgaard, for once again having guided us so professionally through the meeting. It is always such a pleasure working with Klaus. And for shareholders attending virtually, I wish you a good rest of the day or evening, depending on where you are in the world. And for shareholders participating in person here in Bella Center, please leave the room using the doors to the right. We will be serving a cup of coffee on the first floor, if you wish so. And there, you will also be able to meet Novo Nordisk's management. Also, for those of you who have borrowed a headset or a voting device, please hand it back on your way out. Lastly, I will mention that for those having signed up, the informal shareholders' meeting will follow this meeting, beginning at 5:00 here in this room. So with that, I hereby declare the general meeting closed. Thank you. [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]