The organisation

About the Lundbeck Foundation

We fund biomedical sciences research – and we have a special fondness for the brain. We invest responsibly, sustainably and with a long-term perspective, focusing in particular on healthcare enterprises.

All of our activities focus on improving lives and steering society in a healthier direction. Our ambition is for Denmark to become a leading research nation, with a flourishing business sector in the field of healthcare and offer exemplary diagnosis and treatment of patients with brain disorders.

The Lundbeck Foundation is worth approximately DKK 72 billion and grants at least DKK 500 million each year to Danish-based biomedical sciences research, focusing particularly on neuroscience.

Our Purpose

The purpose of the Lundbeck Foundation is to create powerful ripple effects that bring discoveries to lives through investing actively in business and science at the frontiers of their fields.

Lundbeck Foundation 2024 at a glance

An Enterprise Foundation

Our commercial activities include six long-term strategic ownerships (H. Lundbeck, ALK, Falck, Ferrosan Medical Devices, Ellab and WS Audiology), a portfolio of 21 international as well as Danish biotech companies, and in-house administration of assets of around DKK 24 billion.

What is an enterprise foundation?

An enterprise foundation owns a controlling share of a business enterprise or runs its own business.

The Lundbeck Foundation owns 69% of the shares in H. Lundbeck (76% of the voting rights), 40% of the shares in ALK (67% of the voting rights), and 58% of the shares in Falck.

Furthermore, the Lundbeck Foundation owns 30% of the shares in Ferrosan Medical Devices, 34% of the shares in Ellab and 51% through the joint ownership of CN8 A/S (the Foundation owns 15% corresponding to an indirect ownership share of 8%) of WS Audiology.

What is long-term ownership?

Over the past decades, we have established ourselves as an engaged owner – across all of the Foundation’s fields of activity. In close collaboration with the companies’ management teams, we play an active role in creating long-term value.

The commercial foundation model is a strong, sustainable type of ownership that ensures long-term value creation, keeps companies in Danish hands and contributes to society by – in the case of the Lundbeck Foundation – awarding grants for public biomedical sciences research at Danish universities.