Novo Nordisk A/S ($NOVOB)

Good afternoon, everybody. On behalf of the Board, a warm welcome to Novo Nordisk Annual General Meeting of 2026. I'm Lars Rebien Sørensen, I'm the Chair of the Board, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to this Annual General Meeting. For those of you who prefer Danish over English, real-time translation is available here at the Bella Center. For those of you that participate online, you can choose the preferred language in the broadcast system. 2025 was a profound year of transformation. For decades, Novo Nordisk has flourished in the diabetes market, building our expertise, patient by patient and innovation by innovation. Our entry into obesity, a therapeutic field that we pioneered and shaped through us into an era of unprecedented growth that frankly even surprised us. The demand we met changed everything. People with obesity are actively seeking our medicines. Self-paying consumers are seeking faster access. And all of this growth shed the global spotlight on everything we do in the company. This extraordinary period has taught us some important lessons. We discovered that people living with obesity face completely different challenges than those living with diabetes. Instead of fear, they often feel shame and stigmatization. Instead of conventional clinical support, they want discretion. These learnings require entirely different approaches than our traditional physician-focused model, forcing us to rethink the traditional approach to patient care and market access. We need to meet the patients where they are. The competitive landscape has evolved just as dramatically. Where we once enjoyed a clear market leadership in obesity, virtually every major pharmaceutical company now recognizes that this is an attractive market. This competition, while challenging, validates the therapeutic area that we pioneered and drive continued innovation for the patients. And we are not intimidated by this new reality, reaping more than a century of working within the area of diabetes, and we have learned how to win even in crowded markets. In response to these market shifts, we have made decisive changes to remain leaders in obesity and diabetes care. We have focused our strategy on these core therapeutic areas, not as a limitation, but as a recognition that serving the 2 billion people that by 2030 will be living with obesity, overweight and diabetes provides a massive opportunity for growth and impact of the company. Yet shaping the focus also reflects our DNA. Throughout history, we have always succeeded when concentrating our efforts where we make the greatest difference. In 2025, also marked the important leadership transition. August 7, Mike Doustdar was appointed President and CEO, the only sixth Chief Executive Officer in our 103-year history. I have worked with Mike for most of his more than 30 years at Novo Nordisk. Joining my tenure as CEO, he joined the executive management team to lead international operations. I know him as a strong, highly competent leader with a sharp commercial mindset and a very, very competitive edge. Since stepping into the role, he has moved quickly to execute on a number of strategic initiatives, and our collaboration has been direct, constructive and aligned with the company's strategic priorities. The most challenging decision in 2025 was the reduction of our workforce, the largest reduction by number in our company's history. After scaling up rapidly during the period of hyper growth, we recognized that staffing levels have become unsustainable as market dynamics have shifted, requiring difficult but necessary actions to simplify the organization to improve the speed of decision-making and reallocate those resources freed up towards growth opportunities within diabetes and obesity. We approach this with a deep respect for those colleagues affected, conducted the process swiftly, with dignity, consistent with the way of Novo Nordisk Way. During 2025, we also made changes to the composition of the Board. Following a period of dialogue between the Novo Nordisk Board and the Board of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, different visions of the pace and extent of Board renewal made the extraordinary general meeting necessary to provide clarity on governance. This change reflects our commitment to having the right competencies for the reality that we are operating in. And I'm convinced that the reconfigured Board, including the candidates nominated at this meeting, should they be relected, stands ready to support management in responding rapidly to the changing market conditions. Equally important, the Board is committed to constructively engage with shareholders so that their perspectives can help us shape the road going forward. As our transformation continues, so does our long-standing commitment to sustainable business practice. The triple bottom line, balancing financial performance with social responsibility and environmental stewardship remains fundamental to our identity. Long-term value creation requires attention to these broader impacts, and we continue to invest in sustainable practices while setting realistic achievable targets that we can deliver upon. The year ahead will test our determination and capabilities. We face it with confidence knowing that our renewed focus, strengthened competencies and uncompromising commitment to people with serious chronic conditions positions us well for the challenges and the opportunities ahead. Thank you for your continued trust and support as we write the new next pivotal chapter for Novo Nordisk. Let me now turn to the introduction of my fellow Board colleagues. Members of the Board of Directors are present at the general meeting sitting up here, all looking nice. In February, November -- February, Novo Nordisk conducted an employee election. So I would also like to thank the 4 employee-elected Board members for their work, and I'll get back to the newly elected Board members who will join the Board from today. Since the extraordinary general meeting in November, we have had a good collaboration within the Board, undertaking the task of challenging and supervising and supporting the company and its management, with frequent dialogue to ensure alignment. I'd also like to thank the Board members who stepped in during this period for their commitment and willingness to serve. Following today's meeting, we look forward to welcoming even more competencies and perspectives to the Board. Members of the executive management are also present at this general meeting. Throughout this past year, we have seen a number of changes within the executive management, most recently with the exciting addition of Jamie Miller, Vice President of our U.S. Operations and Hong Chow, Executive Vice President, Product and Portfolio Strategy. I am confident that the executive management possesses the right capabilities and competencies to be successful in executing the strategy, and I'm happy to report that the collaboration between the Board and the executive management is characterized by transparency and trust. Also present in person are Deloitte, our auditors, [ Sumit Sudan ] and [ Lars Sigo Hansen ]. And finally, I'd like to inform you that the Board of Directors this year has appointed [ Anders Ørjan Jensen ] to act as Chair of the General Meeting. Anders is joined on stage, as you can see by his colleague, Luisa Korpela. Luisa will be paying attention to the shareholders that are participating virtually. And I'll now leave it to Anders to take us through the agenda. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Lars, and I'll commence with a few formalities and practical information. First of all, I can confirm that I have reviewed the convening notice and all the material presented as head of the general meeting, and this information complies with all requirements under the Danish Companies Act and also the Articles of Association. And I can therefore conclude that the meeting today is lawfully convened. Turning to the agenda of the meeting. It contains all the customary items for our Annual General Meeting at Novo Nordisk. And we also have 3 proposals from the Board of Directors, 2 of them relates to renewal of authorizations. And then we have a technical amendment relating to the name of the region where general meetings are held. All of the proposals can be [indiscernible] by a simple majority, except those that relate to changes to the articles that require a qualified majority of 2/3. Also a quorum needs to be present, meaning that 2/3 of all votes need to be present in the room, and I can confirm that, that is satisfied and that, therefore, this meeting today can pass final resolutions regarding all items on the agenda. Before we kick off with the agenda, I can mention a few information about attendance here today. A total of 901 have requested admission cards for the meeting today. Of these, 645 are shareholders. And just before the meeting here began, there are a little more than 300 present. Of those, 235 are shareholders, and I think a few more have joined since. In addition to those participating here, a large number of shareholders have exercised their right to submit voting instructions ahead of the meeting. That can be done either by proxy or postal vote. In total, 57% of the share capital and 86% of the total number of votes are represented here today. Of all of these votes, 99.9 have actually been submitted in advance by voting instructions, and that also means that we already now can know that all the proposals on the agenda carry sufficient support to be approved in accordance with the Board's recommendations. That, of course, should not preclude that we, of course, here today can have a good discussion. There can be questions and debate around all the items on the agenda. Now a few practical information regarding the format of the meeting and how to speak and vote. To allow as many shareholders as possible to participate, Novo Nordisk allows shareholders to both participate here, but also online via an online application. It is also possible to follow the meeting via webcast. Novo Nordisk has had this format for quite a few years, so many of you will know all the details. But for those that are new, I'll just give a brief introduction to how to vote and speak here at the meeting. For those that are present here, if you wish to speak, you can make your way up here and register with my colleague, Anna, who is over here to the left. And please mention your name and which item you want to address, and then I'll give you the name when we get there. If there's a formal vote, you need to vote using your mobile devices. At the entrance, you received this instruction letter you can see behind me that has a QR code. If you scan that QR code with your phone, you'll get a link where you can submit your votes. You see it here. You'll have the options will pop up on the screen. And once you've elected, there will be a green checkmark confirming that your vote has been submitted. For those participating online, you will also be able to submit comments or questions. To submit questions, use the QR function on the page, type in your comment and press send. The message will then be received up here, will be processed, and Louise will read them out loud as they arrive and we have the right agenda item. If there is a formal vote, that will also pop up on the screen, and you can simply click your election. And again, a green checkmark will confirm your vote has been received. It is possible to change the vote also by pressing the button change vote. If you have any technical problems, then you can call the mobile number available here is +45 45 46 0997. For those participating via webcast and just watching, it's not possible there to submit questions or vote. To ensure we have a focused and efficient meeting. I kindly ask that everybody who takes the stand up here, keep their presentations fairly short and concise and in line with the items on the agenda. Please also bear in mind that after this meeting, there is a shareholders meeting where all members of management will actually be present and can answer even more questions. Final comment relates to the language of the meeting here today is conducted in English, but it is permitted to ask questions in Danish, but they will be answered in either English or Danish depending on who answers. Now that was a lot of formalities. Thank you for your patience. And let's turn now to the agenda. As is customary here at Novo Nordisk. The first 3 items will be presented together. This year, the company's CEO, Mike Doustdar, will present the company's report and also the annual report for 2025. Then the Chair of the Board will take the stage to continue the report and also present the proposed allocation of profits. After these presentations, there will be an opportunity to ask questions and comments. So please welcome Mike Doustdar to the podium.

Thank you very much, Anders. Also a big welcome from my side to all of you to this AGM. As Lars said, 2025 was indeed a challenging and a transformational year for Novo Nordisk. It was a year where we had to make a number of very difficult decisions. None of those decisions were more difficult, I would say, for me and for my management team, than the one leading to 9,000 individuals leaving the company globally. This was, as Lars mentioned, the highest number of layoffs we've had in the history of the company, I would even probably dare so in the history of Danish corporate history. Many of those colleagues had been doing well for us. So we don't take decisions like this lightly. But I also say that it was a very important decision we needed to make. We had to make those decisions simply because we wanted to simplify the company, make it faster, but we also needed to take the investments and make sure that R&D is fueled this year. The savings that came out of less number of headcounts through this exercise is right now being poured into our R&D and accelerations of many things that will live for a very long future. So I'm, in some ways, quite happy that we ended up doing that. Now I do want to use the stage and this moment to thank all of my colleagues who are with us and every day come to the office with their resilience, with their professionality and with their commitment. I also like to thank everyone who left the company for their many years of commitment. And once again, what we did was not an easy decision, but it was to the benefit of the longevity of Novo Nordisk we all love. If you go to the next slide, please. This is a slide that you have seen over 5 years. We started showing it to you at this event since 2019. If you take a look at the right-hand side, then you see a lot has changed since 2019. Our sales and operating profit has doubled. We have generated more than DKK 75 billion just from our obesity sales, and we have treated 16 million more patients than just 5 years ago. This slide shows our annual strategic aspirations or what I would like to call our to-do list for any given year. And this is the version from last year. If you take a look, then you see last year, we delivered 10% sales growth in constant exchange rate. That was on the back of both operating units, international operations as well as United States delivering growth numbers. We generated 6% growth on profit in constant exchange rate. We spent DKK 8 billion on the transformation I just spoke to. If you would adjust to that, the operating profit growth would have been 13%. Our obesity continue to be the main growth driver, once again, growing at 31%. We have lost some market share within diabetes, but still have about 1/3 of the diabetes value market share. And 2025 was also a very decent year for growth of rare disease business that has historically been a bit struggling. On the R&D front, we also had some good movements of the pipeline. Zenagamtide Phase II study was completed. CagriSema Phase III was completed. Wegovy pill, at the end of the year, got an FDA approval. And we acquired a company called Akero and a MASH asset that came with that called efruxifermin, which will be very interesting for our future. We also submitted a number of approvals that will benefit from going into this year. Semaglutide 7.2 milligram was submitted for approval. Mim8 in rare disease was submitted. And most famously, CagriSema, our next generation of GLP-1 product for obesity and diabetes, also was sent for approval last year. Next slide, please. This slide shows the highlight of how we entered into 2026. By now, most of you guys have seen or known that we have launched the oral version of semaglutide Wegovy pill in U.S., and it has been a crazy good launch. Perhaps the best launch pharmaceuticals has ever seen, and we are very proud of that. In many ways, this launch has set historical first for us, the first antidiabetic -- the anti-obesity pill that got approved to date, the first AOM that is a peptide and not a small molecule, which is quite important. You see on the slide, 16.6% efficacy. That's exactly the same as the injectable Wegovy. It's able to be so effective because it's a peptide in a pill. And the only one so far that has been able to do that. It's the first product with such a strong uptake, as I explained. You don't see the numbers of the prescriptions on the side. We're keeping that as a secret for the upcoming quarterly announcement. You'll get to see that soon. But you could see the projection of these curves, and you could see that 3x -- it was 3x better than what our competitor, Lilly, introduced tirzepatide and some 10x better than our own Wegovy injectable. So this has been a very good uptake. It's also the first time the pill became available, not just through the traditional channels, but through all the e-health providers, all of our partners and some 70,000 pharmacies around U.S. So it has been so far very good. Next slide, please. As we do continue to launch good products like the Wegovy pill, we also need to expand access and move forward with our pipeline. We have advanced the pipeline as this slide shows quite a bit. We've had the first bullet point achieved actually. Semaglutide 7.2 or what we call Wegovy highdose was approved by FDA in record time, 53 days. No other product has ever been approved so fast by FDA. So we are very proud of that. As we go forward, we see that the next big approval will be our CagriSema approval, hopefully, towards the end of this year, allowing us to launch that product beginning of next year. Zenagamtide in diabetes and obesity initiated Phase III; [ UBT 251 ], a very interesting triple-agonist product in both diabetes and obesity, have initiated Phase II; [ ziltivekimab ] in CKD and ASCVD Phase III was initiated; and it's going to also be an exciting year for rare disease on the back of, hopefully, Mim8 regulatory approval; and the Phase III results of etavopivat becoming available later on this year. That -- you can go to the next slide, please. That marks the end of item #1 on the agenda. Now I will talk about item #2, which is the presentation and adoption of the statutory annual report 2025. Our annual report was published on February 4, talking about the financial results of 2025. And obviously, the outlook for '26. If you go to the next slide. In 2025, sales grew, as I mentioned, by 10% in constant exchange rate and operating profit by 6 percentage points also in constant exchange rate. The cost of goods sold increased by 24%, bringing the margin to 81%. This has been impacted by the acquisition of [ Catalent ], the manufacturing sites, as well as costs related to the transformation that I alluded to earlier on. Sales and distribution costs increased by 7%. To a large extent, these are the expenditures we do behind our obesity franchises. R&D costs increased by 10%, and that's to progress the pipeline that I a little bit earlier spoke to. And that led to a financial net profit increase of 1 percentage points. Next slide. Total assets increased by DKK 77 billion to DKK 542 billion during 2025. This increase was due to noncurrent assets due to: a, acquisition of Akero, as I touched upon; and b, our ongoing CapEx expenditures that we're doing, building the factories and so on and so forth. Hereby, we conclude the presentation of the income statement and the balance sheet. So we move on. Next slide, please, to 2026. The guidance for 2026 is at state here on the slide. First and foremost, before I get into it, I'd like to bring to your attention that we have tried to increase transparency. So we will present all of these numbers in adjusted sales and profit at constant exchange rate. This means that the numbers exclude exceptional nonrecurring events. They're primarily of noncash nature, including provision reversals. But that also means that adjusted profit will exclude the impact of 340B provision reversal that we have done in U.S. For 2026, as you can see, adjusted sales growth is minus 5% to minus 13% at constant exchange rates. Given the current exchange situation with Danish crowns, we expect that in DKK, the numbers will be some 3 percentage points lower when the year finishes. The same numbers are also expected on the operating profit side, minus 5% to minus 13% in constant exchange rate. The 2026 outlook reflects growth in international operations and degrowth decline in the United States. We are assuming a growing GLP-1 market growth -- the GLP-1 market will continue to grow, and Novo Nordisk will continue to capture patients out of that growth. However, this is countered by pressure on our pricing. We've spoken to that earlier during the quarterly results. We see pressure on our prices in U.S. on the back of most favored nation, dialogue and discussions with the U.S. administration, adjusting the prices downwards. Prices in the cash channels in U.S. have also furthermore gone down to provide broader access and affordability to patients. And in the international operations, selected of our markets are going through loss of exclusivity of semaglutide, and that also means prices going down. Price going down on a large business that we have with semaglutide, of course, takes an impact, an immediate impact in this year's results. That is the reason behind degrowth albeit, as I mentioned again, volumes are continuing to grow, and you saw just a glimpse of that with the Wegovy pill slide that I showed you earlier. Lastly, the positive impact of the gross to net adjustments in U.S. during 2026 are not anticipated to reoccur. Now back to you, Lars, for the proposed capital allocation to shareholders.

Thank you very much, Mike. In 2025, Novo Nordisk returned DKK 53 billion to shareholders through dividends. In August of '25, Novo Nordisk paid an interim dividend of DKK 3.75 per share, and the Board is proposing that the final dividend for 2025 is DKK 7.95 per share, which is to be paid this month. Consequently, the total dividend will be DKK 11.70 per share. The capital allocation principles for Novo Nordisk remains unchanged. Novo Nordisk focuses on internal growth opportunities and dividend payout ratio of around 50% of net profit. In 2026, we have also initiated a share buyback program up to DKK 15 billion. In line with previous years, an authorization to the Board of Directors to buy back shares is proposed at this general shareholders' meeting, and we'll get back to this on a later point in agenda, point #8.1. And with this, back to you, Anders.

Thank you to Mike and Lars. That finalizes the presentation for the first 3 items on the agenda. And we have now a number of speakers that have already registered. The first one is [ Mark Jessen ] from [ ATP ]. After that, it will be [ Michel Bach ] from Danish Shareholders Association. We also have a few more, Bjorn Hansen have registered, and then we have a virtual participant with a question as well. But Mark, you are first up.

I'm [ Mark Jessen ]. I represent [ ATP ], the pension fund. A number of the Board and management are English, I'll continue in English. Thank you for the report on the developments during 2025. This has not been a year short of topics to address. It has been a busy year, both around and inside Novo Nordisk. And I'll focus on the areas we find most relevant for the company's long-term success. Let me begin with a brief comment on the changes in the Board of Directors. When looking at the developments over the last 2 years, I believe most shareholders will agree that changes were necessary. At the same time, many had hoped for a smoother transition. We noted the Chairman's recent comment in the media that an earlier AGM would have been a better solution, an assessment we support. We also -- we have also observed a broader public discussion about the role of foundation ownership in Danish companies. Across different kinds of ownership, trust is built through long-term performance, but at risk every day. For many years, we have appreciated the collaboration between several foundations and the stock market, a collaboration that has developed some of our largest local companies. Turning back to the Novo Nordisk Board of Directors. Today, we are electing well-known members with comprehensive experience in health care, drug development, marketing and finance. Looking ahead, we see potential in value -- potential value in adding further consumer-focused experience as well as additional direct insights from the U.S. market. Despite the bumpy road getting to here, we believe the future Board can guide Novo Nordisk forward. On the business side, it is impossible not to acknowledge the strong launch of the Wegovy pill in the U.S. Prescription volumes have already exceeded several analysts' full year expectations. Unfortunately, this positive development has been overshadowed by disappointing 2026 financial guidance and the recent redefined [ 4 ] trial outcome, which contributed to further share price decline. As we see it, the stock market is now holding its breath until April. When a competing pill is expected to launch this moment, we'll offer Novo Nordisk a key opportunity to reinforce confidence in the stock market, particularly if the Wegovy pill maintains a strong market share. Ultimately, this will depend on prescriber behavior. So my first question today is, how do Novo Nordisk intend to secure and sustain prescriber preference for the Wegovy pill in an increasingly competitive market in and outside the U.S.? In the longer term, this market will likely not be a winner takes it all. Patients respond differently to treatment, and they had different needs. While the headline results from the CagriSema redefined [ 1 and 4 ] trials did not meet expectations -- market expectations, the pipeline is significantly broader. Trials with high-dose versions, [ cenogamtide ], amylin and [ triagonist ] are all in progress, but so are competitor trials. Until now, the competition has largely centered on weight loss efficacy. We expect to see a more differentiated market in the future, where aspects such as tolerability and treatment of comorbidities become increasingly important. We hope Novo Nordisk will compete strongly across these dimensions. So my second question today is, what makes the management confident that the current pipeline will be competitive and preferred by prescribers and patients in the long term? Finally, stepping a bit further back. Many major pharmaceutical companies have successfully expanded into new therapeutic areas beyond their historical [ goal ]. This has been more challenging for Novo Nordisk. Following last year's reshaping, the strategic focus has become narrowed once again. My last question today is, therefore, why has it proven so difficult for Novo Nordisk to take significant steps into new therapeutic areas? And what must change for this to become possible one day in the future. With that, I wish everybody at Novo Nordisk all the best for 2026. And if media reports are correct, around 700,000 Danish shareholders and everybody in here are hoping for a brighter and more stable year ahead.

Thank you very much, [ Michael ]. So 3 questions, so let me try to take them one by one. The first one, how do we secure the pill in and outside of U.S.? I think I showed it on my slide. We have a peptide in a pill. This is really, really important. Usually, when you take a pill, then you have to compromise for efficacy. Pills are weak compared to injections, not in this case. And we have seen firsthand with our injectable business that the magnitude of weight loss matters to people. That's why we have been losing a little bit to our friends at Lilly on the injectable side so far. While on the pill, the picture is completely reversed. At the same time, our pill has shown in clinical development to be much more tolerable than competition, which is the second reason why people go on these medications. They want products with good tolerability. And then, of course, the phenomenal uptick that we have seen so far and continuing will play for us because we will have tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands of people, by the time competition comes, that will be the testament to how they've been satisfied, and that also will help us, of course, make the pill successful. Now we will not belittle the competition. We will prepare and we'll make sure that we're ready. But I think the product is helping us here. And as we do that, we also currently are looking into ex-U.S. trying to find out where and how should be our next launches. Stay tuned. You will hear of that as we will make it public. And the second question, the current pipeline being competitive or not, I think we have some of the best pipelines in the industry. We have, of course, the Wegovy franchises that I just spoke to. Our current Wegovy in the market, Wegovy pill, Wegovy high dose, which is being launched very, very soon. CagriSema with 23% weight benefits. Today, if it was in the market, it would be one of the more efficacious drugs out there. I'm very excited about that. Zenagamtide, which will come both an oral version as well as in injectable, are 2 more assets that are coming soon after that. If you're after losing less weight but with very, very good tolerability, we have [ taglinotide mono ] as an asset for that. The last couple of weeks, you have seen results of the UBT251. That's the triple agonist, the 3Gs: glucagon, GLP and GIP, all in one, and we have seen phenomenal Phase II numbers on the back of that. And we haven't even shared all the earlier assets, which, in due course, we will make public. So I am more than ever today excited about the speed our pipeline is moving at and the products will bring to the market. Which brings me to the last question on the new therapy areas. Obesity, diabetes and overweight affects 2 billion people. That's a lot of people out there. Today, we and our competitors combined are providing medications -- GLP-1 medications to 20 million. 1.9 billion people out there are not having any medication today. With the pipeline I explained, we can get further. But we're not stopping there. We're also trying to see some of the comorbidities associated with these areas. We know that obesity is the leading cause of many other conditions. We're looking into all of those and trying to diversify the company in more and more of those areas as we understand the science and have the manufacturing capability to do so. So more to come. Lars?

Yes, just a comment from me, short ones. To ATP, thank you for providing us with a slightly more balanced view of our company than we have seen recently in the press. And then I can't help, you asked about further competencies to be added to the Board in the area of consumer goods. Stay tuned, there will be news towards the end of this meeting.

All right. With that, cliffhanger, I think the next one is [ Michel Bach ] from Danish Shareholders Association.

I will do this in English as ATP. Having said that, I had the privilege to interview, Mike, in [indiscernible] in November last year, and I think we spoke about new practice in Danish. So maybe next year, I'll do this all in Danish. But let me begin my name is [ Michel Bach ] and representing the private investors on behalf of Danish Shareholders Association. First of all, thanks to the Chair and the management for the presentation. And I would start out with the remarkable facts, I would say, of course, representing the investor culture in Denmark, more than 680,000, 700,000 Danes are now shareholders in Novo Nordisk according to Euronext. Think about it. It is amazing. And as I would say to you, it comes with both responsibility, but also opportunities, responsibility to perform and to communicate in the best possible manner. And on the other hand side, also a unique opportunity to show what strong value creation and shared ownership can do not only for Novo, but for the shareholders, for the Danes and for our nation. I have 3 topics I would like to address today. First, I would like to focus on research and competition. Over the past year, the narrative around Novo Nordisk has shifted in many ways, from being looked at as a market leader to now facing challenges and often criticism from analysts and media. Some of them are here today. We have also seen very strong market reactions to Novo's trials results during the last year. Therefore, my first question. I would like to ask if you, the management, in any way regret the way that the trials were originally planned? How can we assure going forward that we see a Novo Nordisk that is managing expectations instead of being hit by them. And with regards to competition, are we looking into a future where we -- where Novo should change the narrative and stop playing against Eli Lilly? And instead, redefine own strengths, maybe also strengthen pipelines? How do you see this dilemma? And my second topic, I would like to touch upon leadership and the direction set for the company. Last year from this stage, I was calling for a potential strengthening of pharma experience in -- experience in the Chairmanship. Now a year later, we can conclude that we got what we asked for, but to be frank, it was maybe not the right sort of the way that we expected it. Last, sorry. It's not a question. However, we have supported the change from the Danish Shareholders Association over the years, looking at them as necessary. But at the same time, we have been clear that the deviation from good governance cannot continue, and that it comes with responsibility for you and the company to deliver. So we have not seen the positive developments yet. The share price is struggling and therefore, to my second topic questions, I would like to ask the management, to what extent do you see the current situation still being a result of decisions made in the past before you took over or if it's also, to some extent, something that has happened on your shift, so to say. And what are you then going to do to change it. And then my last question is directly to you, Mike Doustdar. Welcome on board. You have, as you also mentioned in the interview we had with you a background primarily rooted in field operations rather than in headquarters. We agree that this is and can be indeed strength leading the company in a new direction. However, it could also raise some concerns. When a CEO inherits an organization and a culture that he has not yet built himself, there is a real risk of becoming absorbed into that existing culture rather than reshaping it. And in that case, even strong visions can maybe struggle to be fully implemented. This is particularly relevant if and when you are in a situation where a former CEO is now also serving as the Chairman of the Board. So my final question is, over the past 8 months, Mike, have you been able to put in place the backroom staff, the team that you need? Or do you still see this as a continuing process in the years to come? And this maybe also could be a topic for Board meeting discussions. So let me just finish by wishing both the management and also all the employees in Novo Nordisk all the best for the years to come. And on behalf of the more than 680,000 private investors, we support you. So please don't let us down.

Thank you very much, Michel. I have to start by saying we -- we very much welcome the 680,000 shareholders, and I enjoy that day being with you, and they're very dear to us. They are our long-term shareholders that have been with us for a long time. So their satisfaction means a lot to meet my management as well as to the Board. To your questions, trial designs was the first question and if you have learned something from that. I think the quick answer is yes. This is an industry with a very long-term product life cycle management. What you see we are doing today, you will not see the impact of it basically next quarter or the quarter after. You'll see the impact of our work, perhaps a couple of years down the road. The same goes, of course, backwards. It's a long-term business. When I think about the trials, I think -- I can assure you, we have spared no minutes looking into all the details. The whole obesity has changed many people's view. This was not a disease area few years back. Novo created this. That also means that Novo has made its mistakes of not knowing exactly what the patients want, how the market works. And as much as I think the trial designs were made with fantastic intentions at the time, the knowledge available 3, 4 years ago was very different than the knowledge we have now. Our job is to capture those learnings and make sure that as we move forward, we don't repeat some of the same, and we design our future trials in different ways. And I think my colleague, [ Martin Lange ] has spoken to that more in details that if you think about redefining 11 as an example, is a trial that we have captured the learnings from the previous redefined studies. And of course, all of this is also being poured into zenagamtide trials, and we will continue improving. On the hindsight, I would say, every company, when they do clinical trials and when the results comes back, they go back and say we could have done this a little bit better. So it's a bit, I would say, unfair to just look at the hindsight. And the issue with regards to Novo focusing on its own strength rather than being obsessed with Lilly, I think you have a very good point. Over the last period, I think we looked at our competitor a bit more than we should. A leader should lead and not basically worry about competition and be obsessed with it. In Novo Nordisk, we have a long legacy of 100-plus years putting the patient in the center of what we do, not the competition. And I think while we should keep our left eye open at night times for competition, but we need to really think about every decision that we make, the patient centricity element of that, and are we serving the patients in a better way. And I can assure you that, that is happening right now. On the question, is this all the results of the past or not? I think I a little bit alluded to it. I don't want to get into what things we could have done better or not. It is a new area for us, and we're all learning. But I can tell you, we're learning incredibly fast. I am much, much more optimistic today than on the day I got the job. I feel that the team around is going incredibly fast. Today, we are being discussed for some of our shortcomings in the media by our shareholders. I have no doubt that tomorrow we'll be remembered on how quickly we responded to these challenges. So that's what I will hold myself responsible for. And with regards to the cultural reshaping and if I have the mandate from the Board, the quick answer is, yes, we feel very comfortable that we have full alignment to do what we need to do. Thank you.

We have received a question from [indiscernible]. It reads as follows: given the surplus of more than DKK 100 billion in 2025, was it really necessary to carry out the largest layoff of staff in the history of Denmark? Also, I was told that even staff working on ongoing research projects has been laid off. It seems to me that it would be unwise since preliminary results of such projects will be lost. Can the Board confirm or deny that such projects have been stopped?

[indiscernible], thanks for the question. Cost management is a matter of keeping the right balance between income and cost. So therefore, because of the fact that we had DKK 100 billion in profits cannot allow us to let costs go out of control so that they become unsustainable in the long run when -- if worse comes to worse, the income starts to fail from the top line. So we cannot manage the company, unfortunately, this way. You could say it should have been managed by avoiding the large recruitment that took place when the company was trying to scale for this unprecedented growth the company was looking into. However, that's a very, very difficult task when trying to meet infinite demand. On the last part, is it correct that projects have also been stopped, researchers have been laid off that are working on projects? Yes, it has occurred. What we try to do in that context is, first of all, we try to take the necessary learnings from these projects and see how we can apply that in other areas. And then we are trying to out-license the assets that we have been trying to develop, but which we deem are not worthy considering funding by Novo Nordisk. As an example, cell-based therapy is an area where -- I can remember it started during my time as CEO is a way of trying to cure diabetes. Hence, it was natural that the company pursued this. But given the difficulties of ensuring a competitive level of such a project, the lengthy development times, I think many of the shareholders here can remember that I made a prognosis that it was 15 years into the future, we would have cured type 1 diabetes. It is still 15 years into the future. So therefore, the company has now decided to out-license all the activities in the cell-based area. And hopefully, these will find new homes, new companies, new financing, so they can be realized. Thanks for the question.

Next speaker will be Frank [indiscernible].

[Interpreted] My name is Frank [indiscernible]. I represent [indiscernible] critical shareholders. I've been here another times now. The reported says very proudly that last year, the company paid out 50.7% in dividend. That's a higher percentage than during the past 4 years, 53 billion counting the buyback program. Why did you do that? And why continue with such great dividends in 2026, while saying that the company is subject to pressure and very hard competition from other pharma companies? Novo doesn't meet happy shareholders. The shareholders don't contribute to anything, not even influence in the -- on the management of the company. I mean that's all the Novo Nordisk foundation, [indiscernible] in doubt about that. Well, in that case, look at how the management change took place. You shareholders have nothing to do with that. You had no sane the matter. And that foundation has lots of capital. So if Novo, at some point -- and I don't think it would happen. But if Novo should need an injection on the capital, well, the foundation has lots of capital. It doesn't have to go into the market to ask for fresh capital from shareholders. There's no reason whatsoever for the company to be managed based on what shareholders would like. It may be that the stock price on the stock exchange dropped. And so what? What did that matter? Well here, some of us lost money, obviously. But the company moved on and kept running very nicely. It still creates profits. It develops new products, even though it looks so dramatic on the stock exchange. The company should not be managed based on what the stock exchange thinks of this company. What the company needs is the development of new exited products to be sold as inexpensively as possible instead of a situation where the people who need our products have to pay a lot of money so that the shareholders can profit. Why does management focus on what should be the most important thing. The development of good products. That was the idea. That's what it used to be like when all of this was rooted in the insulin production. The theme was we need to produce the best possible medication for those who need our products, but nobody should make money on it. That was the management idea back then. But that's not how it is anymore. So I'll get back -- I'd say, let's go back to the roots to the original ideas. And I think the most important message from a meeting such as this should be we need to develop the company in a good direction, not thinking about making as much money as possible. There's something else that could be done with these billions of kroner instead of paying the [ mat ] to shareholders might be to reduce the CO2 emission the company. We all know how important it is for Denmark for the world for all of us to reduce the quantity of greenhouse gases, CO2. The company has said it wants to do that but it increases all the time. Novo's emission of CO2 keeps increasing year after year. Now the third year in a row, it increased by 19% in 2025 compared to the preceding year. And that in complete opposition to what we keep hearing from Novo. Now another critical comment while I'm at it, couldn't we get rid of the of -- all the scandals in our building side or construction site. Problems with pay, problems with safety and security on the building side. Couldn't we work properly with the trade unions and make sure that the trade union has access to construction site to make sure that conditions are in order? Because having the trade union inspect the construction side is the best possible guarantee which will protect us against more scandals. So let's open up instead of just saying, "Oh, yes, we are talking with the trade union." The trade union should have a real chance of seeing whether what has been agreed is really being adhered to. Now somebody mentioned all the redundancies, of course, a large company needs to adjust the size of his workforce. There's no doubt about that, but it can be done brutally as it happened or it can be done perhaps over a longer period of time. There's always a certain exchange of stuff and people hired all the time as well. And last year, people -- new people were hired. So couldn't you have said, over time, we need to reduce staff where we don't need as much people instead of just firing people. I mean you could have afford to do it in a different manner of just making people redundant as brutally saying perhaps we try to do -- shift people to other department. It would have been better for the employees. It would have been good for the culture among the employees. When you have a company where people are just fired that way, well, then, of course, it has repercussions on how people feel about their work and their company. It was not done wisely. It could have been done differently. Now to end, I'd like to say Novo should go back to its roots.

[Interpreted] Thank you. Lars will answer this one. The next speaker after Lars will respond to this. If anybody else wishes to speak, please let us know. We have no further questions online. But if there are no further questions, we'll conclude after Bjorn's questions.

[Interpreted] Thank you to [ Frank Oon ]. This is not the first time we meet on these occasions. I'm very pleased that [ Mr. Frank Oon ] follows the history of this company and remembers the original declaration of intent, which was [ emitted ] when taking over the license from Toronto University for the production of insulin in Denmark without profit. That was [ no ]. But I'm of the opinion, [ Mr. Oon ], that if an element of profit had not sneaked into it, we have been using the same large syringes, which were used back then to treat patients with insulin, which was unsanitized and unclean, impure. It would have been very, very difficult to obtain modern diabetes treatment as we know it today, which is due to companies competing on improving product quality. But of course, we may have different views on how things would have gone. Now the question of capital. I think we look at capital in different ways. We see capital as a very important element in the creation of the company. Capital like employees have a right to be remunerated. And that is why Novo Nordisk got an ongoing basis [ trials ] to live up to the requirements and demands of employees for better pay, while we also remunerate our capital our shareholders with a dividend and hopefully also an increased share price so that everybody is happy. I tend to agree with [ Franco ] in the sense that it is a challenge for the company that we increase our CO2 emissions. I think it's something that we need to look at as a company. We need to look at the balance within our sustainability goal. We see large industrial companies in Denmark with the entire countries who find it really, really difficult to live up to the very ambitious goals formulated within the past 5 to 8 years. If you ask me personally, as Chairman of the Board, I think that the greatest duty of this company vis-a-vis sustainability is to make sure that patients have access to the products, and that means that we need to produce larger volumes and maybe even at a slightly lower price to make sure that our products are available for patients in developing countries at the expense of emitting more CO2 because we need to cooperate with producers in other countries. So work with factories where we cannot control the use of energy. Well, then I find it more important to treat more patients. That's the most important thing for us. Now concerning the redundancies, I agree completely with Mr. Franco that it would have been better if we had not placed ourselves in a situation where the number of employees was too large compared to the development of the company. If that had been so, we could have avoided these redundancies is always easy when you look back on the past, but it's not as easy when you are in the situation and try to handle it as it develops as the former Board and the former top management did. But I do think that the colleagues who were made redundant were treated fairly and with dignity as we have always done on previous occasions. Now concerning collective agreement and contract, I agree again with Mr. Franco that, of course, we need to have proper contracts for the work done at Novo Nordisk work sites. I think the power plant, you referred to as some subcontracts who did not have contracts in place. But I think we have arrived at a point where, of course, we have contracts and we need to follow up on how our subcontractors work with these contracts and also allowing inspection carried out by trade union. So I believe we have solved that problem. Thank you very much.

Next speaker is Bjorn Hansen.

[Interpreted] I am Bjorn Hansen. I represent private shareholders. First, a bit of a joyful thing. Novo Nordisk has provided an excellent profit both in '24 and '25. More than DKK 200 billion all in all. DKK 200 billion, that's world class. So that is an excellent result. You must have good employees at all the different locations. And in research, our research is expensive. I know it's expensive to develop new products. It costs billions. And you can afford it. So yes, capital is required and plan for the money is required. Now conversely, something which is not that good, I think. The price of the share. How can it be that the share price goes down to the existing level, the one that we have now. I don't understand it. When you consider the number of shares, over 2 billion has a fluctuation of [ 400 million ], 500 million of fluctuation. There are so a bit of a reservation there. I don't know how much you spend on artificial intelligence, but it would be interesting to know. Now when I look at [ Nordnet ] and Danske Bank and Nordea, they -- with artificial intelligence, they provide different figures, right, a variation of [ 4 ] 500 million. That's not good, I think, if you're interested in the numbers. So how can these mistakes occur for Novo Nordisk? Who checks that? Who verifies that at Novo? That they gave a correct number of shares. I think the private investors, and I think also ATP is not going to affect them as much as private investors. How can you make deductions for your loss at Novo, when the tax authorities have other numbers? Who is responsible for reporting these numbers? Does that just happen once a year? I think the tax authorities have problems. They've established a center in Western [ Jutland ]. I think in [indiscernible], I think, they put out numbers. What's that? And what year is that? And I thought 2002, what are they talking about? Now we're in '26 and all of a sudden, instead of a deficit that you could deduct, instead of that, there was 106,000 profit or gain on this year. I don't know how that happened with the tax authorities. I believe in Novo Nordisk more than I believe in the tax authorities. And the same with the [ AP Miller ] and other companies such as [ Coloplast ]. But I'd like to know who we can address about this question. It is a bit of a problem, I think. You have a new CEO now. I'm sure you can speak Danish soon. Maybe he can quite soon after 26 years, I don't know. But I'd like to hear whether in the U.S., if you know the American market, I only know it from a few years and the connections that I have there at the moment. But isn't it a fact that you can sort of say there is Novo Nordisk in the U.S. and Novo Nordisk in the rest of the world. So that there are 2 stock exchanges, 2 places or let's say, Frankfurt and Copenhagen, that you can trade in Danish kroner or in euros, where you don't have these big variations because of exchange rates because there's a lot of fluctuation there. In the U.S., if you still get 52% of your earnings from the U.S., I'm sure [indiscernible] you know about that. You were the CEO for 17 years, I think, and things were going quite well. It was more transparent back then. It is not now, I think. I also expect a reply in writing in Danish. It's okay also if it's in English because the Norwegians that I know, they can understand the Danish, but a couple of them would like it in English. I wish you all the best going forward, and I'm sure the price of the share will get better.

Thank you, Bjorn Hansen, and it will be last responding to these questions.

[Interpreted] Yes, you bet, Bjorn Hansen. Thank you for the questions. I'm not certain I understood all of it, but I'll try to give you a reply to what I think I understood, and I hope that we can have the talk afterwards, perhaps. This thing about the pricing of the share, this is really a special matter, isn't it? Normally, the share price reflects future earning capability in the company. What has happened for Novo Nordisk, you can divide into different areas. I think 3 or 4 years ago, the expectation for the obesity market was very high, high expectations. The market has just opened up, Novo was the first player in this market. Everybody was excited to see how big that market could get. And now we are further down the road on that journey, figuring out how to treat people with obesity, what the challenges are, and the overall expectation from this market has been reduced somewhat. So price -- the price -- the share price of the Novo Nordisk share. Well, it is also because expectations from the market have been somewhat reduced. The second part is our own performance or shortage of it, lack of progress or less fortunate progress of development projects. And finally, the occurrence of competitors, particularly one big competitor, the archenemy, if you like, Eli Lilly from the U.S. that we've always been competing against. But as I mentioned in my introduction, a number of the biggest companies in the world have entered the market. Obviously, that puts expectations from Novo Nordisk under pressure, thus influencing the share price. I think you mentioned something about artificial intelligence and trading in shares and loss on shares. It was a bit complicated for me, I'm afraid. At the end of the day, however, trading in shares is an individual matter. If you lose money on the share, I think this is a matter to be solved by the individual person and the tax authorities. I don't think that Novo Nordisk can help you there. The numbers that are in the financial statements are correct. And I'm sure that our auditor who is present can verify that. There was this thing about whether you could see the U.S. separately and take that to the stock exchange in the U.S. I don't think that's going to be a big advances. I mean our share is being traded on the stock exchange in the U.S. and in Copenhagen. You don't really get any benefit from changing the currency. This is just a conversion factor, isn't it? This is going to make it more difficult for people to always have to convert to the currency that you want to use. So we do believe that the access to capital markets, we do have that at the stock exchange in Copenhagen and the stock exchange in New York, but we do not need to go out and raise money. Thank you for your questions.

We have received one last question from the online participants. It has been received from [ Henrik Vigo Anderson ], and will be read aloud in Danish. It reads as follows. [Interpreted] What does the Board intend to do concerning increasing -- this -- shareholders being less and less satisfied in Novo Nordisk. What is the Board going to do about it?

[Interpreted] Right, well, there's one easy solution to that one. It would have been a lot easier for me if I chose not to present my candidacy for President for the Chairmanship. But being President of Novo Nordisk Foundation, it is my damned duty and my responsibility to try to lift part of the responsibility of securing the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. And as part of that, last year, last spring, we found it necessary to step in, in the management and asking for a change of CEO. And then as we could not agree with the Board or the composition of the Board, well then the Board decided to step back collectively. And then again, I was asked by the Board on the foundation to take on this job for a brief period of time, trying to protect the assets of the foundation, but also to help protect the interest of minority shareholders. I have stressed several times that this is not a permanent solution, 2 to 3 years, not more than that. And if it turns out that we can find a replacement for me quicker than that, then we can get back to the desired covenant situation in which we have an independent Chairman and 2 representatives representing the interest of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and thus getting back to the original solution. Now it's said that there's an -- that shareholders are increasingly unhappy. I'd like to correct that because when I look at the votes, for me, well, I personally 42% of the free flow, which means that if you add that to the votes of the foundation, I got 60-plus percent, which is an increase compared to the extraordinary shareholders' meeting. So there is a stat increase. But don't be nervous, I'll be out of your hair as quickly as possible.

Thank you, Lars, and we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves with all of this covered by [indiscernible]. With that, I think we have no further questions from the floor and also no further questions from the online participants to the first 3 items on the agenda. So I'll conclude the debate here and just quickly repeat the resolutions that we need to pass here. First of all, the annual report is accepted by the meeting. Secondly, we have the approval of the annual report for 2025. If there are no further questions to that, I'll conclude that the report is approved. Then number 3 is the resolution for the distribution of profits. And here, Lars presented the ordinary dividend of DKK 7.95 per share, which adds to the interim dividend already paid out last year. There are no further questions or comments to that, I can also conclude that, that is approved. It is. Thank you. That brings us to item 4 and 5 of the agenda, which all relates to remuneration. The first element is Item 4, presentation of the renovation report for 2025. And on item 5, we have approval of the Board, remuneration for '25 and '26. And I'll give the floor to Lars to present the proposals.

Yes. Thank you, Anders, again. This year, we have published a report on the Board and executive remuneration, which is available on our website. As you can read in the report, the Board remuneration was in line with the remuneration policy as it was approved at the last Annual General Meeting. The slight increase in Board remuneration reflects inflation adjustment to the Board fees. On this background, the Board proposes that the general meeting adopts the actual Board remuneration for 2025. Moreover, the executive remuneration was in line with the remuneration policy approved at the Annual General Meeting. The Board has reviewed the current remuneration level for the Board in light with the general market developments for Board remuneration as well as the development of Novo Nordisk business, and found that there was no need for significant changes. On this background, the Board proposes to adjust the remuneration level for 2026 in line with the general salary inflation, and thus increase remuneration with 3% as shown on the slide. With that, back to you, Anders.

Thank you, Lars. So any questions or comments to these proposals? If not, I conclude that the remuneration report is approved, and also that the proposed generation for the Board for '25 and '26 has also been approved. That brings us to the next item on the agenda, which is election of Board members, and we cover that together with Item 6, appointment of auditor. Under the Articles of Association, all Board members are elected for a period of one year at a time. And this time, it will also be Lars, who will present or start off by presenting the conclusions from the Board's self-evaluation and also provide a few comments on Board composition, and I'll get back and present the proposals.

Thank you, Anders. Let me start with a few words on the collaboration between the Board members and the composition of the Board. On November 14, Novo Nordisk convened an extraordinary general meeting to elect new Board members to the Board. Throughout the past 4 months, the collaboration within the Board, between the Board and CEO, Mike Doustdar, the rest of the executive team has been open, productive and forward-looking. Each year, the Board conducts a board evaluation. Various improvement actions were implemented during 2025 in view of the focus areas that were identified in the 2024 Board evaluation as outlined in the 2025 corporate governance report. This included leveraging outside end views, external experts to go deeper into key topics as well as a focus on succession planning and talent engagement. Due to the timing of the 2025 Board evaluation, shortly before the extraordinary general meeting in November, the result of the questionnaires was shared with the Board, with me. However, the conclusions were drawn that since it is not the same Board that's going to implement any recommendations, that these actions were deferred. When recommending candidates to the nomination of the Board takes into consideration the desired competencies and experiences, the performance of the individual Board members, the ambition of diversity and independence. With the proposed candidates, we will continue to fulfill our diversity ambition, being at least 2 shareholder-elected members of Nordic nationality, 2 non-Nordic nationality. We will also continue to fulfill our gender aspiration by being 3 female members and 5 male members, thereby having equal gender balance as per definition in the corporate governance code. Diversity among Board members across gender and other dimensions remains a key priority. Back to you, Anders.

So that brings us to the specific proposals. First item is election of Chair. And here, the proposal is to -- we appoint Lars Rebien Sørensen as Chair. Under Item 6.2, the proposal is to reelect Cees de Jong as Vice Chair. Under Item 6.3, the proposal is to elect Stephan Engels and Britt Meelby Jensen and Kasim Kutay, but also to elect 3 new Board members: Helena Saxon, Jan van de Winkel, Stephan Engels. And here, I'll also give the word back to Lars to present these 3 new candidates.

Thank you very much, Anders. The Board proposes election of Helena Saxon as a new Board member. Helena is Swedish nationality and currently a Board professional. Helena started her career in investment banking, which included tenure at Goldman Sachs and Investor AB. Later, she became Chief Financial Officer of [ Synchrom ], a [ Halves and Halverson ] Company. And most recently, she held the role as Chief Financial Officer of Investor AB, which is a [ Wallenberg ] company. She's been on the Board of SEB [indiscernible] and [ Sobi ], which is a small specialized pharmaceutical company, and currently sits on the Board of H&M as well as the Stockholm School of Economics. The Board proposes Helena Saxon, as she will add important diverse perspective on Board through her extensive executive experience and from her leadership position, covering industries in the intersection between finance, pharmaceuticals, fast-moving consumer goods. You can see Helena's CV on the slide, and details are provided in the notice convening for this general meeting. Further to Helena, the Board is proposing election of Jan van de Winkel. Jan is Dutch of nationality and is Co-Founder of Genmab, in which he currently serves as President and CEO. Jan started his career in academic research, having various leadership positions at the Utrecht University before becoming appointed professor in immunology. In 1999, Jan cofounded [ Genmab ] and became Chief Science Officer of the company before taking over the role as President and CEO in 2010. The Board proposes Jan van de Winkel as he will add significant research and development capabilities to the Board, from both the career in academics as well as the current executive career at Genmab. You can see Jan's CV on the slide, and more details are provided in the notice convening this general meeting. Finally, the Board proposes to elect Ramona Sequeira as a Board member. Ramona is a Canadian nationality and is professional Board member. She started her career with Eli Lilly, where she spent more than 20 years in various senior leadership roles across Canada, Europe and the United States and most recently held the role as Vice President of Sales and Operations of their U.S. franchise. In 2015, Ramona joined Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Japanese pharmaceutical company, and she became President of their U.S. business unit. And from 2020, also added the responsibility for their global product launch strategy and commercialization. Ramona currently sits on the Board of [ Organon ], another pharmaceutical company coming from a [ slaughterhouse ] in the Netherlands that used to make insulin ID. [ Edwards ] Life Sciences Corporation as well as the Board of Trustees of the University of Health Network in Toronto. The Board proposes Ramona Sequeira as she will add significant commercial pharma experience with particular focus on the U.S. marketplace. You can see again here, Ramona's CV on the slide, and more details are provided in the notice to this general meeting. And with this, back to you, Anders.

Thank you. And I will just mention here also that the employees of the company has held an election for appointment of employee representatives for the Board here in February. And here are the 4 members that were elected, Elizabeth [indiscernible] Jensen were reelected. [indiscernible] and [ Desiree Jensen ] were elected as new members. These 4 will join the Board after this meeting and will have a tenure of 4 years. And Lars, I think you mentioned that you had a bit of a surprise to describe?

Yes. And this one is for ATP. We only do it for you. No, no. Next, I would like to announce that the Board has decided to appoint Poul Weihrauch as a Board observer for the year '26/'27, with the intention of nominating him for election as an ordinary Board member at the annual meeting next year and 2027. Poul is Danish, who currently serves as CEO of Mars, Inc. in the United States, one of the biggest privately held companies in the United States with 150,000 associates. He serves as a member of [ Henkel's ] Shareholder Committee and is a board member of the Consumer Goods Forum. He spent his entire career in fast-moving consumer goods and in the past 26 years of them with Mars. It's a USD 65 billion U.S.-based business, as I mentioned, with 150,000 employees. Globally, Mars is a global leader in pet care, veterinary services, quality snacking and food products. Before becoming CEO in Mars in 2022, Poul held a number of senior leadership positions across different geographies and business segments, including President of Mars Petcare, Global President of Mars Food, Regional President, Mars, [ Wrigley ], Europe, et cetera, et cetera. Poul brings a unique combination of U.S. and global consumer marketing and brand building experience together with senior corporate leadership experience to the Board. He possesses very strong capabilities of applying consumer insights and market analytics to drive product innovation and sharpen the commercial execution to accelerate growth. We are very pleased to welcome Poul as a Board observer for the coming term, and we'll be looking forward to working with him. This also concludes point number 6.3, and I have to hand it back to you again.

Thank you. And as I mentioned, we'll just cover the auditor election as well. And here, the proposal is to reappoint Deloitte as auditors of the company, and that will be both regarding the financial reporting and sustainability reporting. And Lars mentioned who was here represented by Deloitte earlier in the meeting. So with that, I will open up for questions or comments regarding the candidates that have been described up here. It seems we have no questions from the meeting here. Louisa, anybody from online? No. And with that, I think we can conclude and congratulate the candidates with their election. That brings us to Item 8, which are 3 proposals from the Board of Directors, and 2 of them are customary items for the Annual General Meeting, which is renewals of authorization to repurchase own shares and issue new shares. And there's also a proposal to change the articles with regard to where general meetings are held. Quickly, 8.1 is thus a proposal to extend the existing authorization to acquire up to 10% of the company's shares. That's extended until the next Annual General Meeting in 2027. This authorization is subject to customary limitations. So can only be acquired a number of shares equal to 10% of the share capital. There's a holding limit of 10% and also a maximum deviation of 10% from the share price at the time of acquisition. Under Item 8.2, we have a renewal of the existing authorizations to issue new shares. So there are 2 authorizations. One is to issue shares without preemption rights and the other is with [indiscernible] right, all limited to a cap of 10% of the existing share capital. And under item 8.3 has slightly technical change here. But in Denmark, the names of the regions have been changed, geographic reasons. So what's been referred to as the capital region of Denmark will now merge into something called region of Eastern Denmark with effect from 1st of January 2027. And we, therefore, have to amend the articles to have the right region mentioned. So these are the 3 proposals relating to the articles, and I open up for any questions or comments. Nobody in the room. Louisa, nobody online. So that means we can conclude that all these proposals have been adopted. And that actually concludes the normal items on the agenda. We have -- on Item 9, any other business. And here, there is a possibility to ask further questions. Nothing can be adopted here. Any last questions? No? And neither online. So I'll give the floor back to Lars to conclude this meeting.

Thanks, Anders, [ Arian ] and Louise for sharing this today's Annual General Meeting. We -- you've guided us as usual with professionalism throughout the meeting. Allow me to close with a few reflections. While 2025 was a tough year for Novo Nordisk and the current outlook for '26 presents its challenges, I remain excited about the year ahead and the long-term prospects of this great company. First, although 2026 will weigh on our financials, we will expand our patient reach this year with more to come in the coming years, living up to our purpose. Second, we are encouraged by the early uptake. As you have also discussed, Wegovy pill, the world's first peptide in a pill, and we will continue to communicate the value of this important innovation. Finally, I am pleased that we now have a full board in place to support Mike and management, and I look forward to a positive impact we can collectively make on the many patients living with serious chronic conditions in the years to come. I'd also like to thank all shareholders for attending this year's meeting and for your continued support. We greatly value our interactions with shareholders, whether in person or virtually. But these participating -- for those participating persons here at the Bella Center, please exit through the doors in the back of the room where you entered. We will be serving coffee outside. And if you borrowed a headset, please return it on your way out. It is not of much use at home. And please remember to take all your belongings with you. And lastly, for those who've signed up, there is a more informal shareholders' meeting taking place at 5:00 here, and where all management will be on the podium to take questions. And with this, I declare the general meeting for close. Thank you. [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted] were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]