Lennart recalled the early days of Novocure when he and Yoram began talking about building a company if the first experiments were successful. Then preclinical research began to show that Yoram’s concept worked, and the company began to come to life.
“Working with Yoram is always very exciting because he’s coming up with ideas that are so out of the box – and then you start to see that it’s actually working,” Lennart said. “It’s a lot of excitement.”
In the beginning years, Lennart said, Novocure faced – and overcame – many challenges. To invest in innovative ideas, he said, you have to be an optimist. Lennart helped to raise many rounds of funding. Additionally, he said, Yoram’s driven nature led the company to persevere over the initial hurdles.
“Yoram never gives up,” Lennart said. “He keeps inventing things and solving problems. He was so convinced that this was going to work, and he just kept pushing it.”
Lennart served on Novocure’s board of directors for 15 years until he retired in 2018, helping to guide Novocure as it grew from a preclinical research organization into a global oncology business. He said he feels very satisfied that his initial investment in Novocure helped the company become what it is today. He recognized the value that Novocure may bring to shareholders, the many jobs that have been created and Novocure’s mission of striving to extend survival in some of the most aggressive forms of cancer.