Novo Nordisk returns to ABPI fold after two-year suspension

Novo Nordisk has reached the end of its two-year suspension from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) for breaches of its code of practice, after showing "significant and sustained improvements."

The Danish pharma group was stripped of its membership in 2023 over serious breaches of the code, which sets out requirements for the "responsible, ethical, and professional" promotion of prescription medicines.

Novo Nordisk became only the eighth company to be suspended from the ABPI in its 40-year history for several transgressions, the most serious of which was a breach of Clause 2 of the code, deemed to be "likely to bring discredit on, or reduce confidence in, the pharmaceutical industry."

That involved sponsored courses that were offered in 2021 and 2022 via the LinkedIn social media platform, focusing on the use of Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 agonist Saxenda (liraglutide) and deemed to be effectively large-scale, covert promotion of the weight-loss drug. The ABPI code was updated in 2023 with specific guidance on social media postings.

At the time, the once-daily injectable Saxenda was the only drug in the GLP-1 class available for obesity treatment, although it has since been joined by others, including Novo Nordisk's once-weekly follow-up Wegovy (semaglutide).

"The UK rightly has some of the highest standards in the world for how pharmaceutical companies can behave and operate – embodied by the ABPI Code of Practice," commented ABPI chief executive Richard Torbett.

"In 2021, Novo Nordisk fell short of these standards, and it is right that their peers held them accountable," he added. "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."

The suspension of Novo Nordisk – the first since Astellas UK had its membership removed in 2016 – was unusual in that the company had to submit a quarterly update to the ABPI board to gauge the progress being made in its remediation plan.

"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," said Sebnem Avsar Tuna, general manager of Novo Nordisk UK.

The company's return to ABPI membership comes despite another breach of the code was recorded by the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA) last year over failure to disclose 'transfers of value' of approximately £7.8 million (around $10 million) – payments to more than 150 different health professionals (HCPs) and healthcare organisations (HCOs), over a three-year period between 2020 and 2022.