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Shire's Ornskov: The Modest Pediatrician With Fierce Corporate Ambition

 
• By Eleanor Malone

Since becoming CEO of Shire in April 2013, Flemming Ornskov has overseen around $50bn in M&A deals. He steered the company through the ultimately abortive takeover by AbbVie and walked away with a break fee of $1.6bn, going on to consummate instead Shire’s $32bn acquisition of Baxalta earlier this year. He spoke to Scrip about his vision and values.

Flemming Ornskov has taken his company on a rollercoaster since becoming CEO in 2013. Immediately climbing up the acquisition trail to build Shire’s presence bit by bit in rare diseases and ophthalmology, endocrine and gastroenterology, he then made stomachs flip when the major $54bn takeover by AbbVie in 2014 fell through because of US treasury rule changes, before rising up again as an M&A buyer. The deal-making spree culminated in the major takeover of Baxalta earlier this year (See Table 1 below). Scrip caught up with the CEO on one of his recent visits to London.

Ornskov, a Danish pediatrician by training who has an MBA from France’s INSEAD and a masters in public health from Harvard, presents as unflappable, grounded and

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