A Loyal Brother and the Start of Novo

In 1923 the engineer Harald Pedersen joined Nordisk to build the machines used for insulin production. His brother, Thorvald Pedersen, was later recruited to analyze the chemical processes occurring during insulin production. However, Thorvald Pedersen did not get along with Hans Christian Hagedorn, and in 1924 Hagedorn fired him.

Out of loyalty to his brother, Harald resigned, and the two brothers set up on their own. They were soon successfully producing insulin. So in 1925, the two brothers sent a letter to Danish pharmacists informing them that Insulin Novo and the newly developed Novo syringe were on sale. The two brothers named their company Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium.