Novo Nordisk’s long-serving head of China operations, Christine Zhou, will step down at the end of March, the Danish pharmaceutical company announced Friday, as competition accelerates in the world’s second-largest drug market.
The company said in a statement published on its official WeChat account that Zhou, a senior vice president who has led Novo Nordisk’s business across mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau since 2018, will leave the company after overseeing a critical period of expansion and regulatory approvals.
The leadership change comes as Novo Nordisk faces rising pressure from Eli Lilly and an expanding field of Chinese pharmaceutical competitors in the fast-growing diabetes and obesity treatment market.
During Zhou’s tenure, Novo Nordisk secured key regulatory milestones in China, including the rollout of its blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic, approved in 2021, and the subsequent launch of its obesity treatment Wegovy.
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Both drugs helped cement Novo Nordisk’s dominance in China’s metabolic disease market, one of the largest and fastest-growing globally. The country has become a strategic growth engine for companies developing treatments for diabetes and obesity.
Novo Nordisk now faces increasing rivalry from both international and domestic drugmakers. Eli Lilly has expanded its footprint in diabetes and obesity therapies, while Chinese firms such as Innovent Biologics are advancing rival treatments.
On Friday, Sciwind Biosciences, another Chinese pharmaceutical company, announced that its type 2 diabetes drug had received regulatory approval in China—adding further pressure in the market.
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In addition, a local Chinese patent for the active ingredient used in Ozempic and Wegovy is set to expire later this year, potentially opening the door to more generic or biosimilar competition and increasing pricing pressure on Novo Nordisk’s products.
China has become one of the most competitive pharmaceutical markets globally, with government-backed innovation, faster regulatory approvals, and aggressive domestic investment reshaping industry dynamics.
Novo Nordisk, which once enjoyed limited competition in the obesity drug space, is now navigating a market where local innovation, patent expirations, and regulatory shifts are converging at the same time.
The company has not yet announced Zhou’s successor or detailed its leadership transition plan for the China region.
