Novo Nordisk A/S — Ethics Grade B-

Novo Nordisk A/S receives an overall ethics grade of B- (68/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Pharmaceuticals. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 75
• privacy: 65
• consumer: 50
• environment: 80
• humanRights: 70

Documented incidents (3)

• Insulin Price Gouging Lawsuits (high, 2023) — Along with other manufacturers, Novo Nordisk faced class-action lawsuits for artificially inflating the price of insulin, making it unaffordable for diabetic patients even as production costs remained low.
• Victoza Marketing Settlement (medium, 2017) — Paid $58 million to resolve claims that it failed to comply with the FDA-mandated risk evaluation strategy and downplayed the cancer risks of the diabetes drug Victoza.
• Patient Data Mismanagement (medium, 2022) — Faced scrutiny over how it handled patient data through its digital health apps, raising concerns about third-party sharing of sensitive medical information.

Documented good deeds

• $35 Insulin Price Cap — Implemented a $35 monthly cap on insulin products for many U.S. patients following immense public and legislative pressure.

Ethical alternatives

• BioNTech SE — Cleaner ethical record and high R&D reinvestment into cancer research.