Novo Nordisk is to establish a new obesity research unit in Seattle, US as the Danish company increasingly focuses on the treatment of the disease.
The main task of the unit will be to identify novel approaches and targets for obesity treatments while increasing scientific understanding of existing obesity targets.
‘Our ambition is to drive scientific progress in the obesity disease area and through this identify and develop new treatment options for people with obesity,’ said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer at Novo Nordisk.
The Novo Nordisk Obesity Research Unit will initially employ around 10 people, supported by the current obesity research and corporate functions. When fully operational by the end of 2016, the unit is expected to employ around 60 people. Globally, around 300 employees are working within obesity research and development at Novo Nordisk.
The Unit will be co-located with the Novo Nordisk Type 1 Diabetes Research Unit at the company’s research centre in Seattle, which opened in 2009.
Dr Kevin Grove has been appointed as head of the Novo Nordisk Obesity Research Unit. He is an expert in endocrinology, specialising in obesity and health-related quality of life, and joins Novo Nordisk from the Oregon Health & Science University, where he was senior scientist and founding division chief, Division of Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism.
