COPENHAGEN, March 26 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk on Thursday elected Poul Weihrauch, CEO of family-owned U.S. candy and pet food giant Mars, as observer to its board, as the drugmaker seeks to strengthen its position in the highly competitive U.S. obesity market.

The maker of weight-loss drug Wegovy announced the appointment at its annual general meeting, where shareholders also elected pharmaceutical industry veterans Jan van de Winkel and Ramona Sequeira to the board, along with Helena Saxon, a board member at fashion retailer H&M.

In 2025, Novo Nordisk and its majority shareholder, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, carried out a leadership shake-up, replacing the CEO and restructuring the board.

This included appointing Lars Rebien Sorensen, who also chairs the Foundation, as board chairman, consolidating his leadership role.

Novo is trying to boost its consumer credentials in the U.S. market in a number of ways under its new management. In January it launched its Wegovy pill across multiple cash-pay channels, rather than solely through traditional insurance routes.

The company is leaning into telehealth, retail partnerships and direct-to-consumer access as it and chief rival Eli Lilly and Co say the obesity market is becoming increasingly "consumer-like".