Our entry into the world of changing possibilities in haemophilia
Novo Nordisk’s entry into the world of haemophilia was one that nobody could have predicted. It was born out of the principles that make Novo Nordisk a global leader within its field. The commitment to change.
In 1972, when Ulla Hedner began her pioneering work, there were very few treatment options for people with haemophilia and inhibitors. For people with haemophilia and inhibitors there was no safe and effective medication. For some of Ulla’s patients, like seven-year-old Johan, that meant no medication, and a short life expectancy.
As Johan’s milk teeth began to fall out – threatening his life and sending him into hospital for several weeks of treatment each time – Ulla decided it was time to do more than just refer to standard medical textbooks. She believed firmly that there had to be a treatment for Johan’s plight. Her work to date led her to believe that the answer could be found in the previously ignored factor FVIIa. She set about proving it. Ulla managed to purify a tiny amount of factor VIIa from human blood plasma, and the next time one of Johan’s teeth was about to fall out Ulla took the night train to Örebro, in Sweden.
Sitting across from Johan’s mother at his hospital bedside, Ulla administered the first dose of factor VIIa. It was one tiny injection, but its impact was felt the moment Johan’s mother cried out with joy, ‘It’s working!’ A discovery with the potential to change the lives of people with haemophilia and inhibitors the world over had been made. As a result, the world’s supply of factor VIIa was quickly exhausted. Ulla knew that purifying human blood plasma was impractical and also ran the risk of infection. A recombinant factor VIIa was needed.
For many companies developing a drug for just 3,500 people simply wasn’t appealing. But, Ulla was not deterred, and in 1985 Novo Nordisk took the initiative. Displaying leadership and vision, Novo Nordisk put Ulla’s discovery into production for the treatment of people who have haemophilia and inhibitors.
“I’m really happy to say, with the new innovations, as well as the pipeline projects, Novo Nordisk is living up to all my expectations,” says Ulla twenty years later.
Today Johan lives an almost normal life working as an economist in Stockholm, and our formula, remarkably, remains the only recombinant treatment available for people who have haemophilia and inhibitors.
At Novo Nordisk we continue to redefine treatment and develop safe, effective and more convenient approaches to improve the quality of life for those living with haemophilia.
