Public policy

Companies have long engaged in lobbying or advocacy to influence public policy as a legitimate business activity to promote their commercial interests and those of their shareholders. It is also in the interests of business to help solve today’s main societal challenges and to take a progressive and significant role in the formulation of public policy. In doing so, industry’s public policy activities can be a force for good and contribute to broader social, environmental or economic goals. However, such activities must be conducted ethically and transparently in order to earn the trust of stakeholders.

Novo Nordisk has a global Public Affairs capability with the overall aim of rallying adequate political support to tackle the diabetes epidemic—to change diabetes: how it is viewed around the world, how it is treated, and how the future of this disease plays out.

Novo Nordisk’s global Public Affairs ambition represents a new industry philosophy by focusing on sustainable public health policies. Diabetes costs national economies billions in lost productivity and strains even the strongest healthcare systems. And people with diabetes pay an even higher price because it diminishes their ability to live a full and productive life – and hence diminishes their quality of life. Thus, lobbying for prevention, early diagnosis and proper diabetes treatment is the main focus of our Public Affairs work.

In addition, we seek to promote diabetes-related public policy initiatives, to protect and expand our product position with respect to coverage and reimbursement, and to continue to increase the visibility of Novo Nordisk with policy-makers. A cross-organisational External Affairs Board with more than 20 focus groups oversees areas of critical importance for Novo Nordisk, particularly in the realm of new regulatory demands. A range of other staff members are also actively engaged in government affairs or external affairs as part of their work.

Performance 2007

As a world leader in diabetes care Novo Nordisk has a unique understanding of the scale and nature of the challenges involved in addressing the global diabetes epidemic. This also entails a responsibility to play an active role in addressing these challenges. Novo Nordisk actively supports the United Nations resolution on diabetes, adopted in December 2006. Activities in support of the UNR culminated in World Diabetes Day events on 14 November 2007. One of our main contributions to the UNR campaign was the Changing Diabetes Bus, which will continue its mission to show support for the Resolution and raise awareness about diabetes.

As a complement to corporate leadership initiatives aimed at influencing public policy for improvement of diabetes care, many other initiatives take place locally. The activities of two of Novo Nordisk’s largest government affairs units, one in the US and another in Europe, are profiled below.

Government Affairs at Novo Nordisk Inc.

Novo Nordisk’s largest Government Affairs office in Washington DC continues to grow. It employs six full-time professional staff who works with federal and state policy-makers. The most recent position added to the staff is a second federal lobbyist with many years of experience on Capitol Hill. The focus of the office is to pursue the company's business goals of coverage and reimbursement of products as well as Novo Nordisk’s Triple Bottom Line agenda. By working with policy-makers to improve diabetes prevention, detection, treatment and care, Novo Nordisk seeks to make a positive contribution to changing diabetes and at the same time enhance its position as a leading diabetes company in the US. The office primarily promotes a patient focus designed to dramatically improve diabetes outcomes in the US.

In addition, Novo Nordisk Inc. has a Changing Diabetes Political Action Committee (PAC), a voluntary political fund supported solely by eligible Novo Nordisk employees. The PAC provides financial support to political candidates (as permitted by law) who share the company’s views on public policy issues. It is strictly non-partisan and not affiliated to any political party.

Some of the key 2007 achievements included:

  • Introduction of The Catalyst to Better Diabetes Care Act of 2007 (H.R. 3544). Introduction of bipartisan legislation in the House and Senate to create a cross-agency program to promote wider use of Medicare’s diabetes screening benefit, saving money and lives. It will also create a National Diabetes Report Card, promote innovative private-sector wellness programs, improve the collection of vital statistics, and initiate public discussion on diabetes and its impact on the medical practice in the United States. The legislation is promoted by Novo Nordisk and the American Diabetes Association, and is a major step forward in limiting the impact of this deadly disease.
  • Unanimous passage in the U.S. House and Senate of a bill to recognize World Diabetes Day, marking the first time that the U.S. Congress has officially supported this important day since it was established in 1991. Novo Nordisk was the lead industry supporter of these resolutions.
  • Establishment and leadership of the Medicare Diabetes Screening Project (MDSP), a broad-based coalition of more than 30 national organisations working to promote utilization of the diabetes screening benefit now offered to the Medicare population. Seventeen million Medicare enrollees have undiagnosed diabetes or pre-diabetes, yet only a small percentage gets screened. Pilots have been launched in Columbus, Georgia and New Hampshire, working with the religious community, federal and state agencies and health care professionals. The American Diabetes Association, Healthcare Leadership Council and the Center for Health Transformation all have leadership roles along with Novo Nordisk.
  • Novo Nordisk is in the second of its three-year, million-dollar commitment to pursue a national effort to promote Medicare screening for diabetes and pre-diabetes as part of the Clinton Global Initiative. Co-led by Novo Nordisk and the American Diabetes Association, more than a dozen patient and professional organisations have joined this initiative.

 

Government Affairs Europe

In late 2005 Novo Nordisk Region Europe decided to put more focus on public affairs at both EU and national level. In key European affiliates public affairs managers were hired and a European Public Affairs Board was established to coordinate our government affairs work in Europe and to ensure practice-sharing. The objectives are to support Novo Nordisk’s vision and business goals by ensuring full market access, and to support a favourable policy framework for pricing and reimbursement of Novo Nordisk products. The main focus is diabetes.

In 2007, Novo Nordisk continued to support the European Region of the International Diabetes Federation in its political advocacy efforts to raise diabetes on the EU health agenda. Among the specific initiatives supported by Novo Nordisk were:

  • The organisation of a special diabetes session during the EU Health Forum Gastein, involving key diabetes stakeholder groups. Targeting EU and national policy makers, the session aimed to address specific themes related to diabetes, such as children and diabetes, migrants and diabetes, secondary prevention, research and pricing and reimbursement.
  • The World Diabetes Day events in and around the European Parliament in Strasbourg, aiming to raise awareness on diabetes in children and adolescents among EU policy makers. More than 36 diabetes youth representatives from 16 different EU countries visited the European Parliament to discuss diabetes with their MEPs and European Commission officials. A Call to Action on diabetes in schools was launched, addressing the issues related to the management of diabetes by children in schools across Europe.

In addition, Novo Nordisk presented the Diabetes Barometer in Brussels to the European media. The event included the active participation of members of the European Parliament and the European Commission.

Novo Nordisk’s approach

Novo Nordisk supports the principle of responsible lobbying and the adoption of practices and policies encouraging greater openness, transparency and accountability within corporate public policy activities.

In our public policy work we seek to ensure that the voice of the company, its employees and the people whose healthcare needs we serve is heard in the public policy arena. This includes supporting our products and services as well as areas of public policy that are vital to the company's long-term commercial interests. For example, we take an active stand in the democratic debate on issues such as stem cell research, animal welfare, human rights, corporate governance, responsible business practices, funding of scientific research, access to health, and disease prevention. Novo Nordisk's public positions can be found here.

In addition, Novo Nordisk voices its perspectives through its membership of industry associations, international networks, local business organisations and other third-party alliances. The company has a long tradition of partnerships, eg in medical research. Novo Nordisk as a corporation does not support any political party and/or religious movement, financially or otherwise.

Novo Nordisk work together with governments and other partners to improve diabetes care, using the expertise and competence in diabetes to address the barriers to better care. Examples of the company's engagement with politicians, regulators and other officials include:

  • Oxford Health Alliance, which aims to raise awareness and change behaviours and policies regarding chronic disease prevention. This involves direct engagement with governments, and the coordination of advocacy initiatives among numerous stakeholder groups.
  • World Diabetes Foundation (WDF), an independent, non-profit foundation created by Novo Nordisk, addresses diabetes in the developing world. The majority of WDF projects include engagement with local politicians or other policy-makers.
  • DAWN, a global initiative to overcome the psychosocial barriers to effective self-management of diabetes. DAWN includes a focus on advocacy and has engaged with politicians, officials and regulators in the US, the UK, Denmark, France, Italy, Egypt, Australia and the European Parliament to promote patient involvement in diabetes care.
  • Support of the United Nations Resolution on diabetes, which was passed on 20 December 2006.
  • Support of the Diabetes Declaration and Strategy for Africa. Novo Nordisk provided financial and logistical support for this joint WHO/International Diabetes Federation initiative, and participated in discussions with policy-makers and key opinion leaders. The initiative aims to raise community and political awareness about diabetes, and to improve diabetes care by working through a coalition of individuals, community, corporations and governments.
  • Each year since 2002 Novo Nordisk has partnered with stakeholders to organise EU Diabetes Week meetings in Brussels with the aim of engaging MEPs and EU officials in awareness-raising and policy discussion.

 

Major memberships

Europe

US

 

This page has been reviewed by PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of its assurance of Novo Nordisk’s non-financial reporting. Please refer to Audit and assurance for a full description of the conclusions and the nature of assurance offered.

Welcome letter
Order, download or view the Annual Report 2007
View the Annual Report index
The world of Novo Nordisk