Novo Nordisk Joins Other Biotech Leaders to Drive Sustainable Production

KALUNDBORG, Denmark, 1 February, 2013 /3BL Media/ - Today, the BIOPRO development center was launched to begin developing solutions to biotechnological production challenges. The two-year project is the start of collaboration between Danish universities and world-leading companies in the biotechnology production.

Novo Nordisk joins collaborating partners, CAT, CP Kelco, DONG Energy, Novozymes, the Danish Technical University (DTU) and the University of Copenhagen, with the ambition to reduce the consumption of energy and raw materials used in biotechnological production.

“The manufacturing organisation in Novo Nordisk has a strong optimisation culture which has been an important driver towards a more sustainable production,” says Per Valstorp, senior vice president, Product Supply, Novo Nordisk. “By joining forces with other biotech companies we aim to find new and innovative ways to substantially further reduce the use of energy and raw materials in our production. We want to take sustainability to the next level.”

Novo Nordisk’s insulin plant in Kalundborg is the largest insulin production site in the world and will be one of the collaboration partners in BIOPRO’s research. The company will also contribute with its expertise in monitoring and management of full-scale production.

Sustainable production and new job creation

In addition to new methods and process to strengthen sustainable production, BIOPRO aims to build a more competitive industry and create new jobs in biotech production and a variety of follow industries and services.

“All partners in this cooperation are highly experienced in their respective fields, and secondly with the location of Zealand, Denmark, we have access to conduct full-scale tests at the plants belonging to CP Kelco, DONG Energy, Novo Nordisk and Novozymes. Such a tight coupling between research and production is unique,” says Jesper Bryde-Jacobsen, managing director for BIOPRO.

Learn more about Novo Nordisk's sustainability efforts 

About Novo Nordisk

Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company with 90 years of innovation and leadership in diabetes care. The company also has leading positions within haemophilia care, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy. For more information, visit novonordisk.com.

Novo Nordisk strives to conduct its activities in a financially, environmentally and socially responsible way. The strategic commitment to corporate sustainability has brought the company onto centre stage as a leading player in today’s business environment, recognised for its integrated reporting, stakeholder engagement and consistently high sustainability performance. In 2013, Novo Nordisk received the Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology industry group top ranking on Corporate Knight’s list of Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations. Novo Nordisk is listed in the 2012/2013 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices with a silver class rating. For more information, visit novonordisk.com/sustainability.