Novo Nordisk's head of commercial strategy steps down

By Maggie Fick and Stine Jacobsen

LONDON/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk's head of commercial strategy and corporate affairs, Camilla Sylvest, has decided to leave the company, the Danish drugmaker said on Thursday.

Novo's rare disease unit head, Ludovic Helfgott, who was already on the executive management team, will immediately assume the responsibility for product and portfolio strategy, including commercial strategy, medical affairs and business development across all therapy areas, the company said.

Sylvest was one of two women on Novo's 10-person executive management team. Well known to investors and analysts, she was a consistent presence alongside Chief Executive Officer Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, Chief Financial Officer Karsten Munk Knudsen, and others on earnings calls.

Novo's statement on Thursday said that Sylvest had decided to leave and did not cite a reason.

Another woman, Thilde Hummel Bøgebjerg, was promoted to the executive management team on Thursday, as executive vice president for Quality, IT & Environmental Affairs.

While some European pharmaceutical companies - including Swiss drugmakers Roche and Novartis - have abandoned global diverse workforce targets in response to recent U.S. executive orders, Novo Nordisk says it remains committed to its DEI programmes.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik and Louise Heavens)