Novo Nordisk saw a bump in its stock last week after reporting that its Wegovy weight-loss pill is off to a strong start, surpassing 3 million prescriptions for its semaglutide tablet in just over five months.
In a favorable sign, these early numbers show that the medication isn’t just converting injectable users to the tablet version of the drug — more than 80% are first-time GLP-1 users. The news marked a bright spot for the company that has been struggling to correct course after losing significant share in the obesity drug market to Eli Lilly.
To regain its footing, the company has gone through a major revamp. It appointed Maziar Mike Doustdar as its new CEO last summer. The company also underwent a major board reorganization, a spate of layoffs and a pipeline overhaul.
The leadership changes at Novo Nordisk’s helm isn’t the only recent executive shift for the company. Below is an additional departure as well as some changes at Genentech and Allogene.
Another Novo departure
The latest exit at Novo is John McDonald, who was the drugmaker’s corporate vice president and global business development and M&A. He joined the company in October 2018, serving nearly eight years before leaving for venture capital firm Forbion, according to LinkedIn. During his tenure, he oversaw some of Novo’s biggest acquisitions, including its buy of Corvidia Therapeutics in 2020, which is worth up to $2.1 billion, and the $3.3 billion purchase of Dicerna in 2021, among others.
With his extensive pharmaceutical experience at Novo Nordisk, as well as at Biogen, Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Genzyme, McDonald will help guide Forbion’s biotech investments.
Multiple layoffs at Genentech
Three leaders at Genentech were caught in a restructuring of the Genentech Research and Early Development group in June, which was first reported by Endpoints News. Dr. Vishva Dixit, who was with the company for nearly 30 years and most recently served as its vice president and senior fellow of physiological chemistry and research biology, was part of the layoffs. Todd McDevitt, vice president and head of cell therapy, and Man-Wah Tan, vice president and senior fellow of research biology and infectious diseases, were also impacted. Endpoints reported the changes came after the company decided to shut down its physiological chemistry and infectious disease teams.
In 2025, Genentech also carried out three rounds of layoffs in October, July and June, affecting nearly 350 people at its Bay Area and South San Francisco locations.
Genentech is not the only company making changes to adjust its pipeline priorities this year as companies increasingly move toward scaled-down but more strategically focused pipelines.
While 2026 is expected to be a slower year for layoffs than 2025, job cuts are still anticipated throughout the industry.
Allogene gets a new CEO
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Zachary Roberts is taking the helm at Allogene Therapeutics, a company specializing in off-the-shelf CAR-T therapies, effective July 1. His appointment follows the impending departure of CEO Dr. David Chang in what the company called a “planned succession.” Dr. Chang will remain on the company’s board.
“It has been an honor to serve as Allogene’s CEO for the past eight years,” said Dr. Chang, in a written statement. “As we enter the Company’s next phase, now is the right time for a leadership transition, and Zach is the right person to lead Allogene forward. He is a deeply respected physician-scientist and energizing leader with a clear vision for how emerging technologies can continue to expand the potential of allogeneic CAR T.”
The change comes as Allogene looks to position its cemacabtagene ansegedleucel treatment as a part of the first-line treatment for patients with large B-cell lymphoma. The company saw a 50% stock bump in the wake of reporting favorable results from an interim futility analysis from its phase 2 study of the off-the-shelf therapeutic. The study looked at whether the treatment could improve a measure called minimal residual disease clearance, which indicates how likely a patient’s cancer is to return, compared with observation. The treatment showed 41.6% absolute difference in MRD clearance compared with observation, in addition to being well tolerated by patients. But it remains to be seen if those results will continue to show the treatment’s potential as the trial continues.
At the same time, Allogene is also awaiting phase 1 data from an ongoing trial of its autoimmune disease therapeutic ALLO-329.
