Novo, every mention

Novo Nordisk (Ozempic) · Acquired Jan 22, 2024 · 41 mentions

• ▶ 44:59 David Rosenthal And actually it's kind of a side note to the story, but it's Novo in the 19 eighties that invents the insulin pen.
• ▶ 45:06 Ben Gilbert Oh, I didn't realize that wasn't Nordisk, but Novo.
• ▶ 45:08 David Rosenthal Yeah, Novo invented the pen, and Nordisk focused on pumps, and they were, um, one of several companies, but one of the leading companies innovating in pumps.
• ▶ 46:32 David Rosenthal So, when Novo gets established, this starts the competitive race that really leads to a hundred years of R&D pipeline that changes all this.
• ▶ 51:59 David Rosenthal And this is a major, major turning point, both for the two companies vis-a-vis each other, but also I think really what sets Novo on the path to becoming Europe's dominant producer of insulin, and then ultimately the dominant producer of…
• ▶ 52:19 Ben Gilbert Huh, so Novo, not Nordisk, became the globally dominant.
• ▶ 53:41 David Rosenthal Novo is the complete opposite story.
• ▶ 53:44 David Rosenthal They had been scaling production
• ▶ 54:01 David Rosenthal Yeah, they are now essentially the official Nazi-sanctioned insulin provider for all of Nazi-occupied Europe.
• ▶ 54:10 David Rosenthal So, the German government basically directs Novo
• ▶ 54:25 Ben Gilbert So just to make sure I have it right, it sounds like Nordisk is only making a small supply for Denmark, Novo is supplying all of Nazi-occupied Europe, and the allied countries no longer have access to anything Novo or Nordisk makes, and so…
• ▶ 55:06 David Rosenthal There is no doubt that Novo's fortunes massively changed and expanded by the German occupation and the Nazis during the war.
• ▶ 55:16 David Rosenthal On the other hand, literally the Nazis ordered them to expand production and provide insulin for Europe, and, like, if they hadn't done it, all the diabetics in Europe would have died.
• ▶ 55:45 David Rosenthal It is important to note, though, after the war, the Danish state did require both Novo and the Peterson brothers personally to repay most of the profits that they made during the war back to the Danish state.
• ▶ 56:04 David Rosenthal So, regardless, after the war, Novo emerges as now both a scaled pharmaceutical company, generally, and the largest producer of insulin in Europe.
• ▶ 56:15 David Rosenthal And as part of that now, they have the resources to really build up their own scientific and R&D divisions and become a real powerhouse to rival what Nordisk was before the war.
• ▶ 56:29 David Rosenthal Shortly after the war ends, they develop a new product called Lente Insulin, L-E-N-T-E, which is slower acting insulin, which means it's thus longer lasting, and this can now be used for diabetics as a basal or background insulin, so…
• ▶ 57:09 Ben Gilbert And what you're seeing here is Novo and Nordisk having decades of experience researching mechanisms to slow the absorption or lengthen the effects
• ▶ 58:08 David Rosenthal So this is really the first major scientific advance that comes out of Novo, and
• ▶ 58:15 David Rosenthal Eli Lilly licenses this lenta insulin from Novo and kind of rebrands it and makes it part of their flagship insulin offerings in the US.
• ▶ 58:25 David Rosenthal They were doing this with NPH insulin before the war from Nordisk, and now, you know, it's kind of Novo that's taking up this mantle.
• ▶ 58:41 David Rosenthal What they basically decided is to be a kind of technology follower and license from all the innovation coming out of Nova and Nordisk, license that into their sales and distribution channels in the US.
• ▶ 59:47 David Rosenthal Novo follows up Lenta insulin in the 19 seventies with MC insulin or non immunogen monocomponent insulin, which is the first a hundred percent pure zero antibody potential insulin.
• ▶ 1:00:12 David Rosenthal Novo is now a scaled pharmaceutical company.
• ▶ 1:00:42 David Rosenthal Now, Novo, interestingly, they're now a large pharmaceutical company.
• ▶ 1:01:23 David Rosenthal It actually stays part of Novo and then Novo Nordisk all the way until the year 2000 when it gets spun out.
• ▶ 1:01:49 David Rosenthal But when we get to the 19 seventies, right as MC insulin is coming online and Novo needs to undertake a huge amount of capex to redo its production lines and expand them around the world, the enzyme market crashes.
• ▶ 1:02:44 David Rosenthal In the early 19 seventies, Novo approaches the old bitter rival Nordisk, and here's the situation, you know, this is a perfect marriage.
• ▶ 1:03:50 David Rosenthal He rejects Novo's overtures to merge, and then he goes and convinces the board, both of the operating company Nordisk and the foundation, that this new MC insulin generation, which remember Novo innovated, that this actually represents
• ▶ 1:04:29 David Rosenthal But Novo's in this spot where they're going to be delayed for several years
• ▶ 1:04:35 David Rosenthal In making the transition in their actual factories because they don't have the capex.
• ▶ 1:04:39 Ben Gilbert So it's like they're coming to us hat in hand.
• ▶ 1:05:11 David Rosenthal So he goes and hires a global sales force because he knows Eli Lilly is gonna have the same dynamics as Novo.
• ▶ 1:07:21 David Rosenthal Nordisk is still only about one-tenth the size of Novo overall, but they're a third the size of Novo's insulin business, and they've moved from being this licensing company to now an actual production company with capacity all around the…
• ▶ 1:18:57 David Rosenthal So when Novo announces that they're gonna be first to market with human insulin, and like, yeah, yeah, just ignore that it's actually pig insulin that we're modifying.
• ▶ 1:19:08 David Rosenthal They use the hype on the back of that to do a US IPO with Goldman Sachs and raise a hundred million dollars.
• ▶ 1:19:26 David Rosenthal So, as you say, is this a nail in the coffin for Novo?
• ▶ 1:20:04 David Rosenthal And Novo is doing this too in the background, but Nordisk, like we're not going to get caught up in the specifically human insulin hype.
• ▶ 1:20:22 David Rosenthal Hochst, I think that's how you say it, today is part of Sanofi, the large international pharma conglomerate, and they're the only other player left besides Novo and Eli Lilly.
• ▶ 1:21:07 David Rosenthal And that's really all come at the expense of Novo, which is down to 30% global market share.
• ▶ 1:21:32 David Rosenthal There actually is a really compelling reason for both of them to merge and combine scale, which wasn't true before when it was really just like, hey, Novo had a problem and needed cash.