Strong presence at the ADA

Novo Nordisk participated with its biggest ever exhibition booth.

Novo Nordisk's presentations during the ADA included new products and groundbreaking research. The company's presence was by far the most impressive it has ever had at an ADA conference and it will be followed up by an equally strong presence at next month's EASD conference in Glasgow. There is no doubt that for those interested in diabetes, the ADA and the EASD are the two most important annual events. This is equally true for doctors, researchers, drug companies, device manufacturers, equity analysts and investors as for diabetes advocacy groups. The combined conferences and exhibitions offered first at the ADA in the US and later at its European counterpart, offer a unique opportunity for this audience to meet and to explore the latest research findings as well as to take a closer look at new products introduced to alleviate the burden of this rapidly increasing disease.
This year's ADA conference was held 22-26 June in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. Novo Nordisk participated in the scientific programme with 41 abstracts and poster presentations, with conference presentations as well as company-sponsored symposia and with its biggest ever exhibition booth.

Novo Nordisk's booth
Novo Nordisk's booth was situated by the conference's main entrance and was the first to hit the eyes of the visitors and actually became the most visited booth at the ADA.
"Designed as a two-storey construction with interactive, computer-based presentations, the booth looked like a busy city with skyscrapers (see picture on the front page)," explains Nicolas Nemery from Novo Nordisk's headquarter marketing department. "Our booth made a big impression on the majority of the visitors, both thanks to its design and size - it was the fourth largest of all - and because we were able to present a very wide range of different products ranging from insulin and insulin analogues over injection devices and blood glucose monitoring systems to Prandin® called NovoNorm® outside the US."
The newly developed InDuo™ (see description of InDuo™ in the article on page 7), which combines the Novo Nordisk Innovo® injection device with a LifeScan blood glucose monitor, attracted a lot of attention. "InDuo™ was cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration the day before the conference started and it goes without saying that this increased the focus on this innovative device, which led to the ADA announcing that this particular part of our booth was the busiest throughout the event," explains Nicolas Nemery.
NovoLog® called NovoRapid® outside the US - Novo Nordisk's fast-acting insulin analogue which is on course for launch in the US later this year - was also strongly featured. Thanks to its immediate onset of action, NovoRapid® can be injected immediately before a meal, thereby helping to improve glycaemic control while at the same time reducing the risk of major nocturnal hypoglycaemia - a common side effect of traditional fast-acting soluble insulins.
Among the more established products, special attention was paid to Prandin®, Novo Nordisk's first oral product to treat Type 2 diabetes, which effectively controls post-prandial blood glucose as well as traditional parameters such as HbA1c without weight gain. Annual sales are now surpassing DKK 1 billion and sales are still growing fast; in the first half of 2001 a growth rate of 50% was realised.

A close-up of the column at Novo Nordisk's booth with interactive, computer-based presentations.

Abstracts, presentations and symposia
Among the research and development projects featured in abstracts and at presentations were Insulin Detemir - the company's basal insulin analogue (currently in clinical Phase 3), AERx - the pulmonary insulin administration system developed in collaboration with Aradigm (currently in clinical Phase 2), and NN622 - a dual-acting insulin sensitiser currently in clinical Phase 2.
In addition to the 41 abstracts and posters, Novo Nordisk also supported two successful symposia featuring independent research involving NovoRapid®/NovoLog® and Prandin®.
Under the title 'New Treatment Approaches to Type 2 Diabetes', the first symposium explored the interrelationship between glycaemic control and cardiovascular complications in patients with Type 2 diabetes and the clinical evidence supporting intensive glycaemic control.
Results presented suggest that a combination therapy consisting of the oral antidiabetic drug repaglinide Prandin® and insulin sensitisers improves blood glucose control better than either drug alone.
The second symposium reviewed the epidemiology and clinical data supporting intensive glycaemic control in Type 1 diabetes and discussed the medical rationale for the development of genetically engineered insulin analogues and the role of insulin pumps and delivery systems in therapy.
The data presented showed, among other things, that NovoLog® has the ability to maintain good glycaemic control in pump treatment of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients.

Two important events
"The ADA and the EASD are by far the most important events for everybody with an interest in diabetes. For Novo Nordisk, these conferences provide an opportunity to show the world that our strong focus on diabetes care results in significant advances in research and the launch of new products that improve the lives of those affected by the disease," says Martin Soeters, president of Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals in the US.
The ADA conference is important both because it takes place in the US - the world's biggest market for diabetes care products and a strategically important market for Novo Nordisk - but also because 30% to 40 % of the participants come from countries outside the US. "In addition, the ADA comes early in the year and as such has the most news from Novo Nordisk as well as its competitors," explains Nicolas Nemery.
Next month Glasgow in Scotland will host the annual EASD conference. More than 10,000 participants are expected, including Novo Nordisk who once again will present innovative products as well as abstracts related to research and development projects - the future drivers of the company.

	ADA The American Diabetes Association is the nation's leading non-profit organisation providing diabetes research, information and advocacy. The mission of the organisation is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. EASD The aims of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes are to encourage and support research in the field of diabetes, the rapid diffusion of acquired knowledge and to facilitate its application.

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