Robust operating profit and record level of funds for grants

• Turnover climbed 5% from DKK 33,748 million in 2016 to DKK 35,371 million, mainly driven by H. Lundbeck’s revenue increase of 10%

• Operating profit before special items was the best in the foundation’s history to date – DKK 3,876 million compared to DKK 2,944 million in 2016, equivalent to a profit margin before special items of 11% compared to 8.7% in 2016

• Operating profit was recorded at DKK 2,230 million (DKK 2,944 million in 2016) after a DKK 1,646 million write-down of goodwill related to Falck

• Financial investment activities gave a return of 10.1% compared to 8.4% in 2016 and were again above benchmark in 2017

• Lundbeckfonden Ventures had an outstanding 2017, with a return of DKK 753 million, as opposed to 2016 when the return was a negative DKK 96 million

• The Lundbeck Foundation’s net worth rose to DKK 63.6 billion from DKK 61.3 billion at the end of 2016

• Grants increased to DKK 507 million, which is the highest level in the foundation’s history

The Lundbeck Foundation’s CEO, Lene Skole, says:

“On the whole, 2017 was a satisfactory year. We saw a solid rise in operating profit before special items, reaching DKK 3.9 billion compared to DKK 2.9 billion in 2016. Our largest subsidiary, H. Lundbeck, had its best year ever, and both ALK and Falck now have new, strong management teams, each of which has launched a new strategy focusing on value-adding growth.”

Lundbeck’s turnover rose 10% compared with 2016, while ALK saw a 3% fall in turnover and Falck a 1% rise.

There was great activity in the foundation’s ventures portfolio, which is accumulated in Lundbeckfonden Ventures. Three companies were sold and four were listed, and we invested in three, new US-based companies. Nine companies received additional capital from the Lundbeck Foundation and other investors. At the end of 2017, the portfolio comprised 19 life science companies, eight of which are located in the USA.

There was also healthy activity in Lundbeckfonden Emerge, the foundation’s department for new biotech companies based on research from Danish universities. As a result, the portfolio doubled to six companies.

Despite yet another turbulent year on the financial markets, the result of investments of the foundation’s available assets of approximately DKK 14 billion was very satisfactory, with a 10.1% (DKK 1,433 million) return.

In 2017, The Lundbeck Foundation allocated a total of DKK 507 million to 459 grants. This is the highest amount in the foundation’s history, equivalent to the salaries of 731 full-time researchers in Denmark.

The foundation’s international research prize, The Brain Prize, worth EUR 1 million, was awarded for the seventh time and went to three neuroscientists from Ireland, the UK and Germany for their ground-breaking research into the brain’s reward system. The Brain Prize is the spearhead of the Lundbeck Foundation’s grant strategy, which – after an update in 2017 – now focuses even more on brain research. Consequently, almost 75% of the foundation’s grants went to projects related to the brain. The foundation’s focus on the brain was underlined by the third major grant to the iPSYCH project, which searches for the causes of psychological disorders and has received DKK 361 million in all. The Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE) at Aarhus University received a grant of DKK 60 million, bringing the funding it has received from the Lundbeck Foundation to a total of DKK 120 million.

Employee representatives have been elected to the Lundbeck Foundation’s Board of Directors. The employee-elected representatives are now Ludovic Otterbein from Lundbeck, Peter Adler Würtzen from ALK and Vagn Flink Møller Pedersen and Henrik Villsen Andersen from Falck.

Read and download the full annual report

Contact
Regitze Reeh, Director of Communications, +45 30546608, rr@lundbeckfonden.com