We are passionate about translating patients' unmet medical needs into novel ideas for therapeutic solutions. As a global provider of advanced treatments for diabetes and other serious chronic diseases, our goal is always to discover and develop innovative biological medicines and make them accessible to patients throughout the world.
Of the 425 million people living with diabetes worldwide1, 5–10% have type 1 diabetes2. For these people, autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas results in high blood glucose levels and dependency on daily insulin treatment. Our scientists continue advancing almost a century of Novo Nordisk diabetes research to further improve the health outcomes and life quality of people with type 1 diabetes.
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The type 2 diabetes pandemic is accelerating at an alarming rate. Today, more than 380 million people live with the disease globally1. Unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes is a long-term progressive disease resulting from insufficient insulin production and/or reduced insulin action. Our scientists are committed to developing easily administered therapeutics that not only lower blood glucose levels, but also treat some of the serious health complications associated with type 2 diabetes, including obesity and cardiovascular diseases.
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The global prevalence of obesity has more than doubled since 19753, fuelling the rise in obesity-related deaths from complications such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). While more than 650 million people are currently living with obesity3, it is rarely acknowledged, diagnosed or treated as a serious chronic disease. Novo Nordisk is committed to changing this situation. We are working to develop and deliver effective biological medicines to offer the best treatment options for all people living with this serious, chronic and complex disease.?
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Atherosclerosis is a common complication associated with both diabetes and obesity, and is a major contributor to the morbidity observed in people living with diabetes4. Based on encouraging findings from our GLP-1-based clinical trial programmes, we are expanding our capabilities and forming partnerships to pursue novel mechanisms for the treatment of atherosclerosis as a driver of cardiovascular diseases.
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Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is estimated to affect 5–6% of the global adult population5. NASH is a serious chronic disease linked to diabetes and obesity, and is associated with life-threatening conditions including liver failure and liver cancer. At Novo Nordisk, we have committed significant resources in research and development to improve the lives of people living with NASH, for whom no therapeutic offerings exist today.
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Around 450,000 people worldwide live with haemophilia6,7, a serious chronic disease that impairs the blood’s clotting process. Currently, most haemophilia treatments must be infused into the bloodstream on a frequent basis - even in a child's first years. Our scientists are working on a pipeline of innovative long-acting and subcutaneous solutions to reduce the invasiveness and burden of current treatments and improve the quality of life of people living with haemophilia and other rare bleeding disorders.
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Insufficient levels of growth hormone can impair a child's growth and have lifelong impacts on his or her physical development and wellbeing. Novo Nordisk has been producing biosynthetic growth hormone treatments for more than 30 years, and we continue to focus on enhancing the quality of life for patients with growth disorders by improving the administration experience and reducing the frequency of injections.
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Through global partnerships with other leading scientific companies and institutions, we are increasing our commitment to stem cell-based therapies. We are expanding from research in type 1 diabetes to other therapy areas such as?Parkinson’s disease and chronic heart failure.
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Based on our long-standing expertise in diabetes and obesity, we are also building new partnerships to focus on related complications and adjacent disease areas such as heart failure and chronic kidney disease.
Heart Failure
Chronic kidney disease
In 2018, Novo Nordisk entered into partnership with US biotech firm Epigen Biosciences. Our collaboration focuses on the research and development of experimental treatments for chronic kidney disease and diabetic kidney disease.
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Explore our scientists’ work across our therapy areas.
