Novo Nordisk opens type 1 diabetes R&D center in Seattle

Danish insulin giant Novo Nordisk (NVO: N) said this morning that it will establish a type 1 diabetes R&D center in Seattle, USA. The new center will combine Novo Nordisk’s “history of innovation and leadership in diabetes treatment with the company’s growing expertise in immunotherapy,” the firm stated.

The new R&D Center is planned to open this summer with about 20 researchers supported by corporate functions in USA and Denmark. It will be located on the same premises as the Novo Nordisk Inflammation Research Center in Seattle in order to foster natural research synergies between the two sites. The company has not revealed the level of financial investment involved in the project.

Already a pioneer in the diabetes drug and insulin development scenario, Novo Nordisk's new long acting insulin candidates, Degludec and Degludec Plus, are potentially the biggest product up for approval this year. Forecast to reach $1.4 billion in sales by 2016, Degludec and Degludec Plus look to be granted European approval on April 23 and in the USA on July 27, 2012. For the first nine months of 2011, modern insulins generated sales of 20.91 billion Danish kroner ($3.63 billion), over 40% of the company’s 48.23 billion kroner total turnover for the period (The Pharma Letter October 28, 2011)