NYCOMED ASA sells equipment and medicine to hospitals Many pharmaceutical companies are competing in the US on pharmaceutical products and the Norwegian Nycomed ASA is one of them.
News of Norway, issue 8, 1996
Ten years ago Nycomed had a very modest presence outside Norway’s boarders. To ensure growth the managment embarked upon rapid European expansion of the pharmaceutical business. By 1992-93 the company’s main structure in Europe was in place. In 1994-95 Nycomed also acquired Sterling Winthrop’s diagnostic imaging business in the United States, established activities in China and expanded further in the former Soviet Union and ASIA. Today, the company is truly global and a major supplier of diagnostic imaging equipment for hospitals. Nycomed ASA today comprises two branches Nycomed Imaging and Nycomed Pharma.
Nycomed Imaging is engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of diagnostic contrast media for radiology laboratories. The firm also sells equipment involved in magnetic resonance, ultrasound and nuclear medicine. Nycomed Imaging has manufacturing operations in Norway, United States, Puerto Rico, Ireland and China. This branch has 3,000 employees, including 2,000 of them outside of Norway. Nycomed Imaging sells contrast media to hospitals all over the world. Contrast media increase the utility of X-ray and ultrasound examinations by improving the contrast in pictures. In the long term this means that diagnoses of certain diseases might be possible at earlier stages, and it may also reduce the total cost for the treatment. Nycomed Pharma sells pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical-technical and consumer health products. Its main markets are in the Nordic countries and Western Europe. This branch has 2,500 employees, more than half of them outside of Norway.
Reorganization and expansion
In 1995 the Nycomed Imaging company was reorganized. The headquarters was moved from New York City to Princeton, N.J.last year. The research activities of the firm was also moved form California to a newly constructed research Center in Pennsylvania. This reorganization has resulted in lower operation costs for the firm. 1995 was also the first full operation year for the activities in the American Division. The company encountered tough competition from other pharmaceutical firms and faced difficulties due to changes in the market.Nevertheless, it launched a number of new products. Nycomed Imaging now has a product portfolio that covers all of the major modalities in medical diagnostic imaging, and hence the company has a footing in an increasingly competitive industry. Research and Development
Heart disease and cancer kill. Nycomed ASA has their own research laboratories, which focus research specifically in these areas. Pharmaceutical research is expensive and time consuming and it entails much uncertainty. The process of developing contrast media and therapeutic drugs takes about 10 years from discovery through testing and registration to product launch, and the costs may reach hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Nycomed Research and Development organization concentrates its resources on high priority projects. Nycomed Pharma’s development projects are based on in-house research as well as projects in collaboration with other research groups or companies. The research activities fall into these main areas: regulation of the body’s immune system; inflammation and pain therapy; hemostasis; diagnostic test systems.
New products developed by Nycomed ASA include the following:
- Lornoxicam: A new pain reliever/anti-inflamatory drug -a medication for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as rheumatism and moderately severe pain.
- Hemoregulatory peptide: This stimulates the release of growth factors in bone marrow, which leads to an accelerated regeneration of cells in the blood and immune system. It may be used for treatment of serious burns and AIDS. CNS-anticancer: This protein and bacterial toxin is used to treat brain tumors,the agent kills cancer cells, but leave healthy brain tissue unharmed. Promising results have been obtained in the first clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health.
- Paclitaxel: A chemo-therapeutic agent, this is effective against certain types of breast and ovarian cancers.
- TachoComb: The collagen fleece is used to advance healing of internal wounds.
- PhiCal ELISA: This protein is used to detect a variety of diseases including gastrointestinal polyps, cancer and inflammations.