Conversation with Novo Nordisk Pharma Japan President and Representative Director

Novo Nordisk aims to defeat serious chronic disease, both through effective prevention as well as the most innovative treatments which enable people to live their lives on their own terms. The company was established 100 years ago by a physician trying to save the life of his wife who was diagnosed with diabetes. Since then, they have entered into adjacent disease areas, lately with an innovative treatment for obesity which has taken the world by storm.

What has made Novo Nordisk enter into the field of obesity, a condition associated with stigma and controversy? What does it take to compellingly make the case for Japanese regulators to approve a non-Japanese pharmaceutical product? How do you convince a medical community, a portion of whose practitioners often view obesity as a character and behavioral discipline issue, rather than what obesity really is—an eminently treatable disease? How do you manage rapid growth of and demand for a medical product with widespread appeal in an ethical manner while protecting the best interests of the people it is meant to help?

If you would like to know the answers to these questions and more, come and ask our featured guest Novo Nordisk Japan President Kasper Bødker Mejlvang yourself?

Arranged by the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan, on September 25th, Entrepreneur Committee leader Steven Bleistein start a conversation with Kasper and then invites the audience to join in and ask their own questions, providing ample time so you can ask yours. There will be no slides, speeches, or presentations—just provocative, unscripted conversation.

If you lead or work in a business in Japan, whether health-related, highly regulated, or not, this is an event not to be missed.

NOTE: This event is off-the-record.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday, September 25th, 2024

Time: 11:45-14:00

Venue: L'Espace@CCIFJ

Nihonbashi-Honcho YS Building 1F, Chuo-ku, Nihombashi-Honcho 2-2-2, 103-0023, Tokyo

Hosting Committee: Entrepreneurship Committee

DCCJ Member Ticket: JPY 4,500

Non-member Ticket: JPY 8,500

The deadline for registration is Thursday, September 19th, 2024 at 16:00.

Speaker:

Kasper Bødker Mejlvang, SVP Region Japan

Kasper joined Novo Nordisk in 2002 and has worked in various leadership roles across several geographies. Kasper held roles in different parts of the value chain such as Global P&O, Product Supply, Research & Development, and International Operations. He held several leadership roles in manufacturing heading up Insulin API manufacturing, and Product Supply Global Support followed by heading up the production site in Chartres, France leading a large turnaround of the site and growing it to more than 1,100 FTEs. Prior to his relocation to Japan, he was the General Manager of the Danish affiliate. Both in his current and previous roles, Kasper has played an active role in the health care system as he was the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Danish Pharmaceutical Trade Association as well as he is currently the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations Japan. Kasper was born in 1977 and holds an MSc Management, MSc in Psychology and an Executive MBA degree.