Novo Nordisk has chosen Hanover Communications to support public affairs and policy work in diabetes in the UK for 2015.
The agency will work with Denmark-based Novo to raise the profile of diabetes among political and policy stakeholders in the hope it will encourage the formation of a campaign to highlight the unmet need for improved access to innovative treatments.
The partners hope that a new deal could help deliver improved patient outcomes and reduce diabetes-related costs to the NHS.
Andrew Harrison, head of global healthcare at Hanover, said: “We are delighted to be working with Novo Nordisk at a critical time of change for the business and the NHS.
“With the political environment uncertain in an election year and the Five Year Forward View unleashing a new wave of change in the way NHS services are delivered. Getting diabetes right should be front of mind for politicians, policymakers and payers.”
In the UK there are around 3.2 million people with diabetes, costing the NHS £9.8bn a year – 10% of the total NHS budget.
Rachel Cummings, head of external relations and policy at Novo Nordisk, added: “We are delighted to be working with Hanover. Their enthusiasm and understanding of our business shone through in the pitch process.”
Novo has built its business on a range of diabetes, led by currently the insulins Levemir, NovoRapid and Tresiba and the GLP-1 agonist Victoza (liraglutide).
The active ingredient of Victoza was also recently approved in Europe as the obesity treatment Saxenda. This followed a similar approval in the US at the end of last year.