Bausch Health vs Novo Nordisk: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Bausch Health and Novo Nordisk side by side

1. 1923Novo Nordisk

   Founding of Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium

   August Krogh and Hans Christian Hagedorn founded the Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium in Copenhagen, securing the licensing rights to produce insulin for the Scandinavian countries.

2. 1925Novo Nordisk

   Founding of Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium

   Harald Pedersen and a group of Danish physicians founded Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium to produce insulin and other biological products using industrial-scale fermentation processes.

3. 1959Bausch Health

   Milan Panic founds ICN Pharmaceuticals

   Milan Panic, a Yugoslav immigrant to California, founded ICN Pharmaceuticals in 1959 and ran it for four decades. ICN is the predecessor of Valeant Pharmaceuticals and of today's Bausch Health.

4. 1989Novo Nordisk

   Merger of Novo and Nordisk

   The $1.5 billion merger of Novo Industri and Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium was completed, creating Novo Nordisk A/S as one of the world's largest insulin manufacturers.

5. 1994Bausch Health

   Biovail Corporation International formed in Canada

   On March 29, 1994 Eugene Melnyk consolidated his Canadian drug-delivery business by amalgamating Trimel Corporation with its subsidiary to create Biovail Corporation International, the legal entity that files today as Bausch Health Companies Inc.

6. 2003Bausch Health

   ICN renames itself Valeant Pharmaceuticals

   ICN Pharmaceuticals, then based in Costa Mesa, California, took the Valeant Pharmaceuticals name in November 2003 to distance itself from the governance fights of the Panic era.

7. 2005Novo Nordisk

   Launch of Insulin detemir (Levemir)

   Novo Nordisk launched Insulin detemir, a long-acting basal insulin analog with a flat action profile and reduced risk of hypoglycemia compared to NPH insulin.

8. 2008Bausch Health

   J. Michael Pearson becomes chief executive

   Valeant appointed former McKinsey director J. Michael Pearson as chief executive effective February 1, 2008, succeeding Timothy C. Tyson. Pearson replaced internal research spending with debt-funded acquisitions of marketed drugs.

9. 2009Novo Nordisk

   Launch of Victoza (liraglutide)

   Novo Nordisk launched Victoza, the first once-daily GLP-1 receptor agonist, marking the company's strategic pivot from insulin to incretin-based therapies.

10. 2010Bausch Health

    Biovail and Valeant complete their merger

    The merger of Biovail Corporation and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International closed on September 28, 2010. The combined company kept the Valeant name and Pearson as chief executive but was incorporated in Canada.

11. 2011Bausch Health

    Ortho Dermatologics bought from Johnson and Johnson

    Valeant agreed to acquire the U.S. Ortho Dermatologics assets from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson and Johnson company, for about $345M in cash, building the dermatology franchise.

12. 2013Bausch Health

    Bausch + Lomb acquired for $8.7 billion

    Valeant agreed in May 2013 to buy eye-health company Bausch + Lomb from Warburg Pincus for $8.7B in cash, adding contact lenses, lens care, ophthalmic drugs and surgical devices.

13. 2015Bausch Health

    Salix acquisition closes at about $11.1 billion

    Valeant completed its tender offer for Salix Pharmaceuticals on April 1, 2015 at $173 per share, about $11.1B in equity value and roughly $15.8B including debt, gaining the Xifaxan franchise.

14. 2015Bausch Health

    Drug pricing and Philidor scandal breaks

    Congressional investigators pressed Valeant over 525% and 212% increases on the heart drugs Isuprel and Nitropress, bought in February 2015, and over its undisclosed ties to the Philidor mail-order pharmacy.

15. 2016Bausch Health

    Joseph Papa replaces Pearson as chief executive

    Valeant named Perrigo chief executive Joseph C. Papa as chairman and CEO on April 25, 2016, and he took over in early May 2016 with about $30B of debt outstanding.

16. 2017Bausch Health

    Skincare brands and Dendreon sold to cut debt

    Valeant sold the CeraVe, AcneFree and AMBI skincare brands to L'Oreal for about $1.3B and the Dendreon cancer unit to China's Sanpower Group for about $820M, using the proceeds to repay debt.

17. 2017Novo Nordisk

    Launch of Ozempic (semaglutide)

    Novo Nordisk launched Ozempic, a once-weekly GLP-1 receptor agonist for type 2 diabetes, which became the fastest-growing diabetes drug in history.

18. 2018Bausch Health

    Company renamed Bausch Health Companies Inc.

    The name change from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. to Bausch Health Companies Inc. was completed on July 13, 2018, and the shares began trading as BHC on the NYSE and TSX on July 16, 2018.

19. 2020Bausch Health

    SEC settlement closes the Philidor accounting case

    On July 31, 2020 Bausch Health agreed to pay a $45M civil penalty to settle SEC charges of improper revenue recognition and misleading disclosures tied to Philidor. Former chief executive J. Michael Pearson and two other executives also settled.

20. 2021Novo Nordisk

    Launch of Wegovy (semaglutide 2.4mg)

    Novo Nordisk launched Wegovy, a high-dose formulation of semaglutide for chronic weight management, demonstrating an average weight loss of 14.9% in the STEP-1 trial.

21. 2022Bausch Health

    Bausch + Lomb listed on the NYSE and TSX

    Bausch + Lomb common stock began trading under the ticker BLCO on May 6, 2022, and a Bausch Health subsidiary sold 35,000,000 Bausch + Lomb shares in the offering. Bausch Health retained about 88% of the eye-health company and still consolidates it. Thomas J.

22. 2023Novo Nordisk

    SELECT Trial Results

    Novo Nordisk announced the results of the SELECT trial, demonstrating a 20% reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events for semaglutide 2.4mg in non-diabetic obese patients.

23. 2024Novo Nordisk

    Catalent Acquisition

    Novo Holdings completed its $16.5 billion acquisition of Catalent in December 2024, and Novo Nordisk bought three Catalent fill-finish sites in Italy, Belgium and Indiana for $11 billion to expand Wegovy and Ozempic capacity.

24. 2024Novo Nordisk

    FY2024 Financial Results

    Novo Nordisk reported FY2024 net sales of ~$44.1 billion (DKK 290.4 billion), up 25% in DKK, and net profit of ~$15.4 billion (DKK 101.0 billion).

25. 2025Bausch Health

    DURECT acquired and record annual revenue reported

    Bausch Health closed the DURECT acquisition on September 11, 2025 for about $63M upfront, completed Solta Medical's Chinese aesthetics distribution purchase on December 1, 2025, and reported FY2025 revenue of $10.266B, up 7%, with net income attributable to Ba…

26. 2025Novo Nordisk

    CEO Change and Restructuring

    Mike Doustdar replaced Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen as CEO on August 7, 2025, and in September the company announced about 9,000 job cuts. Lars Rebien Sørensen later became board chair after a dispute with the Novo Nordisk Foundation over board composition.

27. 2026Bausch Health

    RED-C trials miss endpoints and trigger a $1.4 billion charge

    In January 2026 the two Phase 3 RED-C trials of amorphous-rifaximin soluble solid dispersion for primary prevention of hepatic encephalopathy missed their primary endpoints.

28. 2026Bausch Health

    Second-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.85 billion and raised guidance

    Bausch Health reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.85B, up 13%, net income attributable to Bausch Health of $258M and adjusted EBITDA of $1.075B, and raised its full-year 2026 revenue, adjusted EBITDA and cash flow guidance.

29. 2026Novo Nordisk

    Wegovy Pill Launch

    After FDA approval in December 2025, Novo launched the oral Wegovy pill in the US in January 2026; it passed 5 million prescriptions by August 2026 and received EU approval in July 2026.

30. 2026Novo Nordisk

    Capital Markets Day

    On September 21, 2026 Novo set 2030 targets of mid-single-digit sales growth and more than five multi-blockbuster launches; the shares fell about 8%.

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