Novo Nordisk suspended from UK industry group after rule violation

Novo Nordisk has been suspended from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry for two years, after the prescription medicines watchdog found that the Danish company violated rules by sponsoring a “disguised” large-scale promotional campaign.

The UK industry group said the drugmaker was in breach of its code of practice and had acted in a way that was “likely to bring discredit on, or reduce confidence in, the pharmaceutical industry”.

The watchdog found the company failed to disclose its sponsorship of weight management training courses for healthcare professionals, which preferentially included positive information on its drug Saxenda.

Susan Rienow, president-elect of the ABPI, said the board had carefully considered the report by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority and its audit of Novo Nordisk’s compliance procedures.

“The board expressed significant concern about Novo Nordisk’s compliance activities and the very serious issues identified,” she said.

Rienow replaced Pinder Sahota, general manager of Novo Nordisk UK, who had been president of the industry group until he stepped down during the audit.

Novo Nordisk said it was “disappointed” but accepted the decision and remained committed to maintaining “the highest possible ethical standards”. “Novo Nordisk will continue to focus our efforts on achieving better outcomes for, and improving the lives of, patients living with serious chronic conditions,” it said.

Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, Novo Nordisk’s chief executive, told the Financial Times last month that the company “sincerely apologises” that its branding was missing from a LinkedIn post promoting online weight loss webinars and elearning modules.

The course, which Novo Nordisk said it sponsored from February 2020 to December 2021, was run by a third party provider. The watchdog said it was concerned about “the potential impact on patient safety” because the webinars showed a “lack of balance” in how they compared the side effects of Saxenda and its competitors.

The company is the eighth to be suspended from the ABPI in the past 40 years. The suspension is a reprimand from its peers and means Novo Nordisk cannot access the industry group’s briefings, but there is no significant financial penalty.

The ABPI has asked the watchdog to do two further audits of Novo Nordisk’s compliance standards later this year and next, while the drugmaker will have to submit quarterly updates on its progress. If it shows a “clear, significant and then sustained improvement”, the industry body will consider allowing Novo Nordisk to rejoin the association at the end of the two years.