Last week I had the unique pleasure to meet, along with three other community patient representatives, the CEO of Novo Nordisk, Lars Rebien Sørensen, in the Princeton, New Jersey offices of Novo Nordisk US. To my knowledge, this is the first time he has met with patients from the American hemophilia community. Novo Nordisk is a leader in diabetes therapies, and also the only provider of recombinant factor VIIa for the treatment of inhibitors in hemophilia.
(Photo, left to right: Eddie Williams, Ashley, Schlander, Jurek Gruhn, Laurie Kelley, Mike O’Connor, Lars Sørensen)
With me were Mike O’Connor, chair of NHF and former person with hemophilia—Mike is one of only a handful of people cured of hemophilia through a liver transplant. I’ve known Mike for many years. Also attending were Schlander and Ashley, two great ladies who both served with me on the Novo Nordisk Consumer Council.
From the Novo Nordisk side, we also had quite a few attending, including Jurek Gruhn, President, and Eddie Williams, Vice President, Novo Nordisk US.
So we had a nice reunion as colleagues and friends, and then sat down to a working lunch.
I had learned a few things about Lars before meeting him, such as his passion for cycling. He competes in the Death Valley biking race each year, which sounds terrifying. I’ve read about the infamous ultramarathoner Dean Karnazes and his running Death Valley–his sneakers literally melt on the tar in the 120 degree heat so he runs on the white strips on the highway, in a white reflective space suit to deflect the heat. Hard core athletes. I had just bought my first racing bike two years ago, and we chatted about biking, though I admit I am a bit intimidated by its engineering, and after taking a spill on a major road.
After introductions, I offered some statements from inhibitor families who wrote in a few days before to express comments directly to Lars:
Doris wrote: “Thanks to NovoSeven, my husband was able to have successful hip replacement surgery last September 1. Not in his wildest dreams would he have ever imagined that he would be able to have surgery and live through it. We just want to thank you for developing this wonderful product.”
Karen wrote: “What would I say to the CEO of Novo Nordisk, Lars Sørenson? Well, first and most importantly, I would say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Our son, Michael, now 17, wouldn’t be here without NovoSeven.” And John wrote, “You might tell Mr. Sørensen how grateful our family is for the $2,500 scholarship our son received from his company this year. When you have a bleeding disorder and are used to physical trials and disappointments, receiving a scholarship is a huge lift.”
Some also wrote and asked about the high cost of the product. We had a discussion about healthcare reform, as Mike was just back from NHF’s Washington Days, where 350 of our community attended. Mike reported that the discussion was all about eliminating lifetime caps and pre-existing condition discrimination. With no caps, of course, cost of product would not be such a problem for so many.
Lars and his executive team listened intently, especially about the daily realities of living with inhibitors, which Ashley shared. Infusing every two hours, as prescribed, is very disruptive. He shared a slide that showed new Novo Nordisk products in the pipeline, and one of these is a long acting version of NovoSeven. (See also our latest issue of PEN which details all the new products being explored: https://www.kelleycom.com/newsletter.html)
We wish to thank Lars Sørenson and his team at Novo Nordisk for the privilege of meeting, and applaud his spending time with members of the community, to hear about their needs.
Of our meeting, Lars and his team writes:
We had the privilege last week to meet with members of the US hemophilia community. For those who follow Laurie’s blog regularly, you probably know a bit about this meeting. Novo Nordisk is listening….listening to the wishes, needs, concerns and challenges of people who take our medicines and their loved ones, the physicians who care for them, advocacy groups who drive for change, policymakers who govern how care is delivered, and our employees who make it possible for us to do what we do. We are doing this because we want to be a better company— a better healthcare partner.
It was a very enlightening discussion with Laurie, Michael O’Connor, chair of NHF; Ashley, a mom of two young boys with hemophilia and inhibitors; and Schlander, a woman who cares for her older brother with hemophilia and inhibitors. We were very moved by the discussion, and reminded why it is so important to stay connected to those we serve. Our only regret was that we couldn’t meet personally with more of you. But thanks to Laurie and her network, we did hear from many of you. Laurie shared letters from several of you and the “wish lists” you provided. We know that the challenges and decisions you face are extraordinary and even overwhelming at times. We heard you. You have our promise to strengthen our commitment to you and do our best to expand it where we can.
Sincere thanks and warm regards,
Lars Rebien Sorensen, CEO and President, Novo Nordisk A/S
Jurek Gruhn, President, Novo Nordisk US
Eddie Williams, Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk US
Great Book I Just Read
Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic by Jennifer Niven
Another polar survival story (I have a huge collection) and this one is brilliant. But I’m a fan of Niven’s anyway. We pick up after the disastrous Karluk expedition of 1913. Explorer and unethical, shameless self-promoter Vilhjalmur Stefansson is planning a new attention-getting scheme in 1921: to sail to, explore and claim Wrangle Island for Canada. He lures four men into his service (two who have never stepped foot in the Arctic!), with nebulous contracts, inadequate provisions, sickly sled dogs and one impoverished, 23-year-old Eskimo woman named Ada Blackjack, to serve for a year on Wrangle Island. The young men are starry-eyed and eager to make their names; Ada simply wants to earn enough to help get her five year old son treatment for his tuberculosis.
Despite Stefansson’s assurances of plentiful game, the uninhabited island is almost barren. When winter sets in, they are tested as never before in their lives. And Stefansson, who didn’t even go, simply puts them out of his mind as he continues to do speeches and scheme new schemes. Eventually starving, three of the men head out to get help, leaving one behind seriously ill with scurvy, and Ada. The story of how she fended for herself should give anyone courage; she survives, but only to face a media circus surrounding the events of her two-year stay. She is hunted, harassed and used. The aftermath of the trip is as amazing as the survival story itself. Survival of a different kind, from the blood-thirsty public and money-hungry rescue operators. This is an inspiring story of a dignified woman who survives horrific circumstances, and is immortalized forever by Niven. And rightly so. Three stars.
1 thought on “Spotlight on Inhibitors: Novo Nordisk CEO Visits US”
Sorry I was not able to participate in this meeting with Lars Sørensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk. If I was able to attend the meeting or if I had access to a computer to write a response I would have said:
"For me NovoSeven RT is life changing. I have had a inhibitor for more than 35 years and lived with no clotting products for more than 25 of those years. Last year I had a successful knee replacement and NovoSeven RT allows me to be more physical, like travel abroad and because RT works great and is easier to travel with."
Thanks!
Bob