business backgrounder | industry
Novo Nordisk: The ‘R’ in R & D
Finding a deep pool of talent, the company is planning to expand their
Seattle research facility to include Type 1 diabetes research.
Daniel C. Brunell
Novo Nordisk opened its Seattle center for inflammation research in 2009. After three years of
success, Novo Nordisk is incorporating their Seattle research center into their quest to treat —
and possibly cure — diabetes.
Denmark’s Novo Nordisk — one of the leading developers
and manufacturers of medicines in the world — is betting on Seattle to help them make life easier for millions
worldwide.
In January, the company announced that it is establishing a Type 1 diabetes research and development
center at their Seattle research center. This expansion
brings the total number of employees at their South Lake
Union office to nearly 100. The new center will be on
the same premises as Novo Nordisk’s current South Lake
Union office and will open in the summer of 2012.
The center’s initial aim when it opened in 2009 was to do
early-stage research on autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune
diseases are diseases that arise when the immune system
mistakes some part of the body as a pathogen and attacks
its own cells. There are more than 80 types of autoimmune
diseases including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis,
lupus, thyroiditis, Crohn’s disease and diabetes.
“We are really the ‘R’ in research and development,”
said Jan Beck, director of research operations for Novo
Nordisk. “We get to do the real groundbreaking and
exciting part of the industry in coming up with real solutions to treat these diseases.”
a part of the biomedical revolution
Novo Nordisk is a part of one of the fast growing business
sectors in Washington state — the biomedical industry.
Fueled by academic institutions like the University of
Washington and research centers like the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle’s South Lake Union
at a glance
Novo Nordisk opened their South
Lake Union research center in
2009 focusing on autoimmune
and inflammatory disease.
In January, Novo Nordisk
announced that they will be
expanding their Seattle facility to
include the company’s mainstay
— finding treatments and even a
possible cure for diabetes.
Novo Nordisk hopes the
expertise they’ve developed in
immunology will greatly assist in
their research of Type 1 diabetes.
Jan Beck, director of research operations for Novo Nordisk. The company is expanding its Seattle
location to include Type 1 diabetes research.
32 association of washington business