As part of our goal to become a sustainable company, we want to work with bioethical issues in a proactive and targeted manner. At the moment we are in the process of identifying the issues that are relevant for our business. Steady progress has been achieved in 1998 - an external review has been conducted and in Health Care a bioethics team has been set up.

What bioethics means to us
Developments in modern biotechnology have over time dramatically changed Man's ability to alter the natural world. Rapid technological development challenges traditional values and the ethics of biotechnology, and Man's relationship with the environment and with other living creatures are issues that are debated in all quarters of society.

Understanding the ethical implications of our business is a learning process, but it is important for us that bioethical issues become a natural part of our decision-making processes and daily activities.

At Novo Nordisk, bioethics encompasses all ethical issues related to the use of life science technologies for the development and production of biotechnological and pharmaceutical products. Animal welfare, patenting, the use of GMOs in food production, access to genetic resources and benefit sharing, and the safe application of gene technology, are among the issues discussed in this report.

Bioethics management in Health Care
In order to strengthen the coordination of bioethical issues, a bioethics team has been set up in Health Care. Two coordinators have been appointed, and a network to deal with a broad spectrum of issues has been established.

1998 target: Develop tools for monitoring our bioethical performance starting with animal welfare at Novo Nordisk.

This target has been achieved and management tools have been developed enabling us to:

• Obtain an overview of the bioethical standards with which we must comply
• Conduct a targeted review of specific areas
• Develop a proactive strategy

The tools have been developed using the animal welfare area as a pilot study. In 1999, the process will continue with a series of interviews with employees at various levels in the organization. The experience from the pilot study will then be used in other areas of the company.

External bioethics review

1998 target: Commission a third-party review of our management practices with regard to bioethical issues.

In March 1998, we commissioned Vernon Jennings from SustainAbility Ltd. and Svend Andersen, Professor at the Centre for Bioethics at Aarhus University in Denmark, to undertake an external bioethics review of the company. An overall objective was to review Novo Nordisk's awareness and actions in relation to bioethical issues from both a strategic and operational viewpoint and to provide recommendations for future work. A summary of the review is given on the following page.