PINDER SAHOTA

General Manager and Corporate Vice President, United Kingdom, Novo Nordisk

Pinder Sahota is GM and Corporate Vice President of Novo Nordisk UK since March 2018 with responsibility for all operations. Pinder is also a member of the European management team reporting into the Senior Vice President of Novo Nordisk North West Europe, Frederik Kier. His primary focus is to provide strategy and direction within an environment of, collaboration, accountability and execution.

He is passionate about improving the lives of patients and ensuring that Novo Nordisk works in partnership with the NHS to deliver better health outcomes. Novo Nordisk UK generates annual sales of approximately £300m, with diabetes care accounting for around 80% of the business. It employs 365 staff at its headquarters in West Sussex, and has been operating in the UK for more than forty years.

Pinder brings extensive business, commercial and leadership experience to Novo Nordisk from a variety of senior UK and European roles. He was responsible for developing the commercial & market development strategy for key brands across Europe in his role as Senior Vice President of Market and Commercial Development for Europe at Smith & Nephew based in Baar, Switzerland.

A British national, Pinder started his pharmaceutical career in sales and marketing with companies which formed Sanofi Aventis before moving to SmithKline Beecham in the UK in 1996 as Director of Neurology in Global Marketing. After the merger between SmithKline Beecham and Glaxo, Pinder held a number of national and international commercial leadership roles for GSK including VP of Commercial Operations for Diabetes & Cardiovascular from 2001 – 2003; VP & Commercial Director of Poland from 2003 – 2007; and VP & Head of Commercial Excellence from 2007 – 2008.

In 2009, Pinder moved to Astra Zeneca to assume the role of Vice President for Primary Care in the UK, a position he held until taking up the role of Managing Director for the UK & Ireland for Smith & Nephew in 2013, and then moving to his European role in Baar, Switzerland.