Strategy
In the face of intensified competition the leadership challenge is to stay focused on pursuing long-term objectives for value creation and overcoming barriers to sustainable growth. Novo Nordisk is a focused healthcare company. This focus underlines the company’s claim to leadership in its markets. Novo Nordisk offers therapies in areas where significant unmet medical needs remain: diabetes care, haemostasis management, growth hormone deficiency and hormone replacement therapy.
Over the years, Novo Nordisk has built expertise in protein engineering and expression and protein formulation, supported by device technology for the convenient administration of medicines. Leveraging these core competences is critical to securing long-term success. In line with this strategy, Novo Nordisk has decided to discontinue R&D activities within small molecules for the oral treatment of diabetes and to refocus its activities within inhaled insulin, discontinuing clinical development of AERx® inhaled insulin (AERx® iDMS).
The dedicated focus in just two core business segments – diabetes care and biopharmaceuticals – is supported by a simple organisational structure of functional excellence, a common values-based business approach and global standards. This structure facilitates flexibility and agility in a dynamic and highly competitive business environment.
The corporate strategy is based on a 10-year perspective and describes how Novo Nordisk intends to translate its vision into action. The market approach is underpinned by the Triple Bottom Line principle, which encompasses both risk mitigation and innovation. To better manage emerging risks and act on opportunities, Novo Nordisk engages with a broad range of stakeholders. The company seeks to make a positive economic, environmental and social impact through its operations, global management standards, community engagements, partnerships, technology transfers and knowledge exchange.
Diabetes care: Strategic objective
Novo Nordisk’s strategic objective in the area of diabetes care is to maintain leadership.
Novo Nordisk offers a full portfolio of modern insulins and has a strong pipeline with a late stage product candidate that the company hopes will meet current and future needs. The company has sufficient production capacity to scale up deliveries, and a well-tuned sales force in place globally. Moreover,significant investments in diabetes research make Novo Nordisk the largest player in this field.
This position is the foundation of Novo Nordisk’s promise to change diabetes. To curb the diabetes pandemic, which is largely attributable to an escalating consumer culture, action is required on several fronts. First, to improve the quality of life for people with diabetes. Modern insulin therapy serves individuals’ varying needs. Improved outcome, which can be measured as reduction of HbA1c levels, may be achieved by early initiation of insulin therapy and timely intensification. Second, as a longer-term effort, interventions to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes. And third, research into finding a cure for type 1 diabetes.
Biopharmaceuticals: strategic objective
In the area of Biopharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk’s strategic objective is to expand the business.
With a solid range of therapeutic products, the strategy for biopharmaceuticals is to expand the business by pursuing new indications and exploring new potential in other areas where Novo Nordisk can make a difference. As the primary objective, Novo Nordisk aims at expanding its leadership in haemophilia based on the company’s product NovoSeven® and a number of innovative compounds that cover different blood clotting
factors, including analogues of FVII, in the pipeline. The therapy areas in the biopharmaceuticals segment predominantly address small patient groups with significant unmet medical needs. The exception here is hormone replacement therapy, where Novo Nordisk has gained market-leading positions despite a generally declining market.
