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Premixed
insulin analogue launched in Europe In late March, Novo Nordisk launched NovoMix® 30 FlexPen®, its new, dual-release insulin analogue and pen system designed specifically for people starting insulin therapy. |
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ADA
honours Novo Nordisk The American Diabetes Association honours Novo Nordisk for establishing the World Diabetes Foundation. |
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Financial
highlights Novo Nordisk came out of the first quarter with a sales growth of 2% and a decline in operating profit of 8%. |
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Performance in the first quarter of 2002 |
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Change in Executive Committee Lise Kingo, head of Stakeholder Relations, appointed member of the Executive Committee. |
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NovoPen®
Junior wins FDA approval In April, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the NovoPen® Junior insulin delivery system. |
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Newbits Novo Nordisk and Rite Aid join forces. Novo Nordisk rated most responsible pharmaceutical company. Website for diabetes professionals celebrates a fine first year. Chinese R&D centre first of it kind. |
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Newsbits
Novo Nordisk and Rite Aid join forces
Novo Nordisk
has formed an alliance with the Rite Aid Corporation, a US drugstore chain
with 3,600 stores.
The alliance
gives Novo Nordisk insulin products preferred status at Rite Aid stores.
This means that Rite Aid pharmacists will encourage the dispensing of
Novo Nordisk insulins and delivery systems.
The alliance
also involves education. Novo Nordisk has trained 150 Rite Aid pharmacists
designated as diabetes specialists to help insulin users improve compliance
with their treatment regimens. Rite Aid customers will receive Keeping
Well With Diabetes, Novo Nordisk's signature diabetes education programme.
Rite Aid
represents about 10% of the total US insulin market. Eric Sorkin, executive
vice president of pharmacy services at Rite Aid Corporation, said, "The
partnership with Novo Nordisk will bring significant additional value
to our patients with diabetes and will help us reach another level in
diabetes care."
Novo Nordisk
rated most responsible pharmaceutical company
Novo Nordisk has been given the highest corporate social responsibility
rating among the world's largest pharmaceutical companies by Oekom Research
in Germany. On a scale ranging from A+ to D-, Novo Nordisk scored a B.
The industry average score was C+.
In a press release, Oekom comments its Corporate Responsibility Rating,
which is based on 200 environmental and social criteria: "There is a yawning
gap between the leading companies and those at the tail end. The leaders
in the pharmaceutical industry are making a serious attempt to reconcile
economic expectations with social and environmental responsibility. Whereas
pharmaceutical companies have hitherto been excluded from many ethical
funds, the change in the strategic focus of some companies could now make
them a promising target for investment."
Website for diabetes professionals celebrates a fine first year
In May last
year, Novo Nordisk launched d4pro.com, a new website forum for diabetes
healthcare professionals. The forum is aimed at specialists, nurses, general
practitioners and other consultants, and the site can be compared to a
house containing hallways to all of the professional services that Novo
Nordisk offers. Today, more than 5,000 healthcare professionals visit
the site each month. D4pro offers them the latest news in diabetes research
and clinical practice, a wealth of educational material supporting diabetes
management in healthcare professionals' practice and links to the most
prominent diabetes journals.
Chinese
R&D centre first of its kind
The new
Novo Nordisk Research and Development Center China is the first multinational
research and development centre for biotechnology research based in Beijing.
The centre,
which opened at the end of January, will employ between 25 and 30 people.
For Novo Nordisk, the centre represents an important step towards building
local capabilities in biotechnology research, particularly in the area
of pharmaceutical proteins, and in expanding the recruitment base of the
company.
According
to Esper Boel, vice president of Biotechnology, costs are low in China,
while the pool of qualified professionals is very good.
"Many
researchers and scientists in China travel abroad to study at world-class
universities and then want to return to China," he says.
China
has the second-largest diabetes population of any country in the world,
surpassed only by India. While less than 1% of the Chinese population
had diabetes 50 years ago, the disease now affects 4% of the general
population and up to 12% of residents in the most developed Chinese cities
such as Hong Kong.
"There
are about 30 million people with diabetes in China, and if something is
not done, that number will increase dramatically in the future," says
Thorkil Kastberg Christensen, general manager of Novo Nordisk in China.
Novo
Nordisk aims to help curb that trend. Efforts include working in cooperation
with the Chinese healthcare authorities to map out an overall strategy
and put it into action.
Esper Boel, vice president of Biotechnology, far left, and Thorkil K Christensen, general manager of Novo Nordisk China, far right, at the opening ceremony.
