Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, Denmark,[3] with production facilities in nine countries and affiliates or offices in five countries. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder Novo Holdings A/S which holds approximately 28% of its shares and a majority (77%) of its voting shares.[4]

Novo Nordisk manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and services, specifically diabetes care medications and devices.[5] Its main product is the drug semaglutide, used to treat diabetes under the brand name Ozempic and obesity under the brand name Wegovy.[6] Novo Nordisk is also involved with hemostasis management, growth hormone therapy, and hormone replacement therapy. The company makes several drugs under various brand names, including Levemir, Tresiba, NovoLog, Novolin R, NovoSeven, NovoEight, and Victoza.[1]

Novo Nordisk employs more than 48,000 people globally, and markets its products in 168 countries.[7] The corporation was created in 1989, through a merger of two Danish companies which date back to the 1920s. The Novo Nordisk logo is the Apis bull, one of the sacred animals of ancient Egypt. Novo Nordisk is a full member of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).[8]

The company was ranked 25th among the 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2010 and 72nd in 2014 by Fortune.[9] In January 2012, Novo Nordisk was named the most sustainable company in the world by the business magazine Corporate Knights, while spin-off company Novozymes was named fourth.[10] Novo Nordisk is the largest pharmaceutical company in Denmark.[11] Its market capitalization exceeded the GDP of its domestic economy in 2023, and it is the highest valued pharmaceutical company in Europe.[12]