CEO: Anil Kapur

A World Leader in Diabetes Care

The biotech income of Novo Nordisk is estimated to have grown by 22.7 percent in 2004-05

T he heat is on the leader in the insulin segment. Competition from two home-grown players, Wockhardt and Biocon, has started to put pressure on the prices of insulin. The biotech income of insulin leader, Novo Nordisk is estimated to have grown by only 22.7 percent in 2004-05, from Rs 110 crore to Rs 135 crore.

Now Novo Nordisk plans to strengthen its diabetic care presence in India by introducing haemostasis management. The company plans to cover red blood cell transfusion, reduce complications like multiple organ failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome besides others. It is working towards launching NovoSeven, a recombinant Factor Vlla for treatment of bleeds in haemophilia A and B patients with inhibitors, in India by the year-end. Currently, the drug is undergoing clinical trials in select cities. Presently after getting the necessary approvals, the drug is in active use in the US and Israel. In India,

Novo Nordisk is conducting trials at Fortis Hospital in Delhi and at a few hospitals in Hyderabad and Chennai and is expected to hit the market by end of this year after all necessary guidelines are completed. This recombinant protein is expressed from cloned human FVII genes in baby hamster kidney cells.

Consolidating on haemostasis management, the company has announced plans to open a Haemostasis Research Center in New Jersey. Scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2005, the 30,000 sq. ft facility represents a major expansion of Novo Nordisk's research in the area of haemostasis. The new center will focus primarily on discovering new pharmacological targets for haemostasis and related complications.

Novo Nordisk is a focused healthcare company with headquarters in Denmark. The company was created in 1989 through a merger between two Danish companies – Novo Industri A/S and Nordisk Gentofte A/S. With a broad diabetes product portfolio, including the advanced products within the area of insulin delivery systems, Novo Nordisk is among the world leaders in diabetes care. In addition, it has a leading position in areas such as haemostasis management, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy.

Novo Nordisk set its base in India in 1990 when a liaison office of NovoNordisk A/S, was set up in Mumbai. Prior to this Novo Nordisk A/S products were marketed in India through various other companies. In April, 1994, Novo Nordisk (I) Pvt. Ltd. was set up with its headquarters in Bangalore. It was later rechristened as Novo Nordisk India Pvt Limited. Since then the company has grown in stature. Now as an established healthcare company in India, its therapeutic portfolio comprises of diabetes, human growth hormone and haemostasis management. The company relies on biotechnology in the development of its successful products. These are human insulin, insulin apart, insulin detemir, growth hormone, FVIIa and glucagan. The company's ability to master protein expression in bacteria, yeast and mammalian cells is complemented by similar cutting edge capabilities within protein drug delivery. The above three set of competencies - research in diabetes, protein and their delivery form the basis for R&D strategy which aims at providing diabetes care leadership.

In India in order to understand the needs of its customers better in each geographic area - North, East, West and South, the company has established regional offices in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai respectively.