Novo Nordisk's Strategic Insulin Pact Sparks Excitement Amid GLP-1 Wave In Indonesia

Novo Nordisk and Indonesia’s Bio Farma are set to collaborate under a fresh memorandum, leveraging Novo’s expertise in diabetes care and insulin production alongside Bio Farma’s local infrastructure. Amid Novo Nordisk's expanding footprint in Asia, the focus shifts to enhancing insulin packaging in Indonesia through this strategic partnership. In a recent announcement, Bio Farma revealed plans to collaborate with Novo Nordisk under a memorandum aimed at enhancing diabetes drug production. Novo will bring its extensive expertise in diabetes care and insulin manufacturing, while Bio Farma will leverage its local facilities in Indonesia, according to a press release issued on Tuesday.

Although financial terms were not disclosed, a spokesperson from Novo Nordisk clarified to Reuters that the agreement focuses primarily on insulin packaging rather than direct production within Indonesia. The spokesperson highlighted that Novo currently manufactures its insulin in Denmark and the United States. Bio Farma reports that approximately 19.5 million individuals in Indonesia are currently living with diabetes, a number projected to rise to 28.6 million by 2045. Novo Nordisk and Bio Farma aim to support nearly one million diabetes patients over the next decade through their collaboration. Despite insulin's continued importance in diabetes treatment, its prominence as a revenue generator for diabetes pharmaceuticals has diminished with the emergence of new GLP-1 medications.

In the United States, Novo faced criticism from three Senators for its choice to stop selling Levemir, a long-acting insulin product that was due to see a significant price reduction at the beginning of 2024. In April, a spokesperson from Novo confirmed that both Levemir FlexPen and Levemir vials would cease production by December 31, 2024, although they did not directly respond to the senators' concerns in their statement. In the past year, Ozempic generated 95.7 billion Danish kroner (approximately $13.8 billion) in revenue on its own. Meanwhile, Novo's entire insulin lineup, focused mainly on fast-acting insulins, recorded sales of 48 billion kroner (about $7 billion) for the full year of 2023.