Nine-Month Sales Up 15% At Novo Nordisk

Danish company Novo Nordisk has reported a consolidated sales increaseof 15% for the first nine months of 1997 to 12.35 billion Danish kroner ($1.9 billion). Net income rose to 1.57 billion kroner, up 17% compared with the like, year-earlier period, while operating income was 2.21 billion kroner, up 25%.

The group's total licence fees and other operating revenues rose 41% to 467 million kroner, due principally to fees from the antidepressant Seroxat (paroxetine), which accounted for 387 million kroner. The company noted that a major reason for the rise was a 21% increase in the average sterling-kroner rate of exchange from the first nine months of 1996 to the corresponding period this year. Revenues from Seroxat in the Nordic countries declined significantly to 176 million kroner, down 27%, due to strong competition in the region and parallel imports in Norway.

The firm's health care business achieved turnover of 9.1 billion kroner, up 14%, which is due primarily to a positive impact from currency exchange rates of 4%. Revenues from diabetes products increased 16% to 6.44 billion kroner, driven by strong sales of the insulin product Penfill for NovoPen and the disposable pen NovoLet.