Lotte Bjerre Knudsen revealed her departure in a LinkedIn post, and said she “has left the building”.

She started in an internship in 1987, did her university thesis also in the company in 1988, and then fulltime job from 1989.

“I grew up at Novo Nordisk and have spent my professional life until now here – working with great scientists, colleagues, friends, leaders, partners, and so many other collaborators outside the company,” she writes on LinkedIn.

Pioneered the progress of long-acting GLP-1s

Lotte Bjerre Knudsen and her colleagues pioneered the progress of long-acting GLP-1s with the invention of liraglutide and their early efforts in GLP-1 obesity science, and she has continued to lead and publish their research efforts in understanding the effects of GLP-1 across diseases and organs. “I am proud that we have always been so transparent and published many findings,” she writes on LinkedIn.

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“To have played such a pivotal role in advancing science that has meant so much to so many people – that is a privilege beyond measure. I am proud of the contributions and impact we have made for people living with obesity and diabetes. The Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Research Award, the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, and the Mani L Bhaumik Breakthrough Prize from Science stand testament to how it was us at Novo Nordisk that defined the field,” she writes.