We are a global healthcare company, founded in 1923 and headquartered just outside Copenhagen, Denmark.

Our purpose is to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases, built upon our heritage in diabetes. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines and working to prevent and ultimately cure the diseases we treat.

We employ more than 64,000 people in 80 offices around the world, and market our products in 170 countries.

We will not allow the success of our company to be defined by the steady increase in the number of people living with serious chronic diseases, like type 2 diabetes and obesity.

We take no pleasure in the suffering and hardships faced by people living with a chronic disease. In some countries, the financial burden of providing or getting access to medical care puts people at risk of serious health complications.

We are committed to helping societies defeat diabetes, and our strategy is clear – accelerate prevention of type 2 diabetes and obesity, and provide access to affordable care for vulnerable patients in every country.

Our success will be defined by the solutions we bring and the health and well-being of the people and communities benefiting from them.

Learn more about our strategy to defeat diabetes.

We are the first pharmaceutical company to use 100% renewable power in all our global production facilities. We are proud but also motivated to go even further.  

With our Circular for Zero strategy, we are starting a journey to achieve zero environmental impact in all our business activities.

We will collaborate proactively with suppliers to reduce the environmental impact across our supply chain, cut CO2 emissions from all our operations and transportation, and solve the end-of-life product waste challenge to eliminate waste.

Follow our journey to achieve zero impact.

We are a proud life science company united by a common job to discover better treatments for people living with a serious chronic disease. 

Our industry is dynamic. And the scientific understanding of the diseases we treat and the people living with them, improves every day. This is a constant reminder that what got us to where we are today is not necessarily what will make us successful in the future. 

As an employer, we recognise the need to embrace experimentation and strive for diversity and inclusion to help make better decisions by ensuring that multiple perspectives are considered.

Together, we’re life changing.

Are you interested in a career with us?

We work in close collaboration with leading universities and biotech companies worldwide to collaborate and speed up new drug discovery.

We continuously seek new partners with whom we share complementary capabilities and mutual interests, and openly share novel peptide and protein analogues, and antibodies for preclinical research.

We offer easy and free access to selected high-quality and well-characterised compounds to curious and passionate scientists from around the world.

See how to partner with us

Our story starts in 1923 when two small Danish companies started the production of the revolutionary new drug insulin that had just been discovered by two Canadian scientists.

When at last they decided to merge in 1989, they created Novo Nordisk, a company that has been expanding rapidly ever since with leading positions within diabetes care, obesity care, haemophilia care, and therapies for rare endocrine disorders.

The Novo Nordisk Way connects our company’s past, present and future. It sets the direction for our strategy, decisions and behaviours and applies to all employees in Novo Nordisk. It is a promise we make to one another and to stakeholders – and to which we hold ourselves accountable. 

The Novo Nordisk Way describes the values and behaviours that guide everything we do. It is rooted in the principles and vision of our founders who set out on an ambitious journey to change diabetes in 1923.

Today, we are thousands of colleagues applying the same passion, skills and commitment to our purpose of driving change to defeat serious chronic diseases, built upon our heritage in diabetes.

These diseases affect hundreds of millions of people and are among the most urgent health challenges in the world. They can lead to life-threatening complications, placing a growing burden upon individuals, families and society. 

To fulfil our purpose, we apply our core capabilities to pioneer the discovery and development of innovative medicines. By making these accessible to patients throughout the world, we aim to lead in all the therapy areas in which we are present, with the ultimate aspiration to prevent and cure disease. 

Our ambition is to be a sustainable business respected for adding value to society. When faced with difficult choices, we think long-term, understanding that our future is dependent on being financially, environmentally and socially responsible. 

Our key values of openness, accountability and respect underpin our work to drive change for a healthier world. To help us live these values, 10 Essentials guide the decisions and actions of every Novo Nordisk colleague. 

1.  We create value by having a patient-centred business approach. 

2.  We set ambitious goals and are empowered to achieve them.   

3.  We are accountable for our financial, environmental and social performance. 

4.  We are curious and innovate for the benefit of patients and society at large.  

5.  We build and maintain good relations with our stakeholders. 

6.  We value diversity and treat everyone with respect. 

7.  We focus on performance and personal development. 

8.  We have a healthy and engaging working environment. 

9.  We strive for agility and simplicity in everything we do. 

10. We never compromise on quality and ethics.