Novo Nordisk industry membership reinstated

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Novo Nordisk has regained full membership with the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), following suspension in 2023.

This action resulted after the pharmaceutical company made serious breaches of the ABPI Code of Practice in 2021. The case was the eighth instance in the past four decades that the ABPI’s board has issued this degree of sanction, the industry body highlighted upon announcing the news.

The Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) conducted an in-depth investigation into the case, and requested a further audit from Novo Nordisk.

Novo Nordisk’s return to ABPI full membership

The pharmaceutical company’s re-entrance to ABPI membership is supported by independent PMCPA audit reports. The Board deemed that the pharmaceutical company “had made clear, significant, and sustained improvements to ensure it is able to properly adhere to the strict industry standards in the ABPI Code of Practice”, ABPI noted.

After falling short of the ABPI’s Code of Practice standards, “it is right that [Novo Nordisk’s] peers held them accountable. Over the past two years, Novo Nordisk has responded positively and actively to the requirements laid down by the ABPI Board, and I am pleased to welcome them back into full engagement as ABPI members,” Richard Torbett, the industry body’s Chief Executive remarked.

“We welcome the decision today to have our membership to the ABPI restored. Throughout the audit process we have considerably strengthened our compliance processes and we firmly believe that we now have the right foundations and governance in place to be fully and effectively self-regulating… [we] look forward to participating as a full member of the ABPI,” Sebnem Avsar Tuna, General Manager of Novo Nordisk UK stated.

Recent big pharma ABPI members

While Novo Nordisk became a member of the APBI in 2013, other additions in recent years include Moderna, who gained membership in January 2023, and Gilead, who joined the ABPI in January 2022.