Novo Nordisk Foundation Invests $265 Million in Danish Vaccine Research Initiative

Intelligent Finance APP learned that Novo Nordisk Foundation, the largest shareholder of Novo Nordisk (NVO.US), has invested up to 1.8 billion Danish kroner ($265 million) in vaccine research in Denmark and hopes to make more such large-scale investments in the future.

The Novo Nordisk Foundation said that the funds will be used to establish a research center for vaccines against respiratory diseases such as tuberculosis and influenza, which will become part of the University of Copenhagen. It will also establish a limited liability company responsible for licensing and developing vaccine technologies and coordinating clinical trials for promising vaccine candidates.

It is understood that the Novo Nordisk Foundation, one of the wealthiest charitable organizations in the world, is benefiting from the surge in Novo Nordisk's stock price. Driven by unprecedented demand for the weight-loss drug Wegovy and the diabetes medication Ozempic, Novo Nordisk raised its sales forecast in October and paid a record-high interim dividend to investors during the summer.

Novo Nordisk Foundation CEO Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen said: "The increase in the value of Novo Nordisk A/S will allow us to scale up donations and philanthropic investments in the coming years beyond our expectations." He noted that this includes developing more initiatives on the scale of vaccine programs, which often require resource commitments spanning up to a decade.