Novo Holdings A/S

Novo Holdings A/S (formerly Novo A/S)^[1] is the Novo Nordisk Foundation's wholly owned holding company for Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S. Novo Holdings A/S was established in 1999 and manages the Novo Nordisk Foundation's assets, which in 2022 was worth almost DKK 805 billion^{[2] [3]}Danish Kroner (approximately US $107 billion) and is the largest charitable foundation in the world making Novo Holdings A/S a world-leading life sciences investor.^[4] Novo Holdings A/S is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with offices in San Francisco, Boston and Singapore.

Novo Holdings A/S

Type	Private limited company
Industry	Life Sciences Asset management
Founded	1999
Headquarters	Hellerup , Denmark
Key people	Kasim Kutay(CEO) Lars Rebien Sørensen(Chairman)
Services	Investments in Life Science
Total assets	DKK 805 billion (2022) Approx. $107 billion (2022)
Subsidiaries	Novo Nordisk A/S Novozymes A/S
Website	www.novoholdings.dk

Eivind Kolding succeeded Henrik Gürtler as CEO on 1 May 2014.^[5] Eivind Kolding left Novo Holdings A/S in March 2016 and Kasim Kutay took over as CEO for the organisation.^[6]

Since 2016 Kasim Kutay has been the CEO of Novo Holdings A/S.

Purpose

Novo Holdings A/S manages the Novo Nordisk Foundation's assets, aiming to enable and make a positive impact on health, science and society by generating long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which the Novo Nordisk Foundation in return can award as grants for scientific research and humanitarian and social purposes.^[7][8][9]

The overall purpose of Novo Holdings A/S is to hold the position as the controlling majority shareholder of the Novo Group companies (Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S), aiming at making a positive impact on health, science and society by generating long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.^[10] The Novo Nordisk Foundation is an enterprise foundation which is a self-governing entity with no owners, focusing on long-term ownership of the Novo Group (Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S) while combining business and philanthropy within scientific, humanitarian and social purposes. A key task of Novo Holdings A/S is to act as a stable basis for the commercial activities of Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S. Novo Holdings A/S also invests in both financial assets and in companies with application-oriented research in the life sciences.

Objectives

Novo Holdings A/S' objective is to grow the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. In addition to investing in equity and fixed income securities, Novo Holdings pursues direct investments in life science companies.^[8] The Novo Nordisk Foundations share of financial returns generated from investments are added to the Novo Nordisk Foundation endowment and later distributed through charitable grants and awards aiming to improve the lives of people, science and society around the world.^[8]

Novo Holdings A/S is recognised as a leading international life science investor focusing on creating long-term value.^[7] Besides from being the controlling shareholder in the Novo Group companies (including Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S),^[11] Novo Holdings also provides seed and venture capital to companies in the development-stage.^[9]

Novo Holdings also takes on significant ownership in growth and well-established companies and manages a broad portfolio of diversified financial assets.^[9][11]

Increased focus on industrial Biosolutions

In 2021-2022, Novo Holdings have announced an increased investment focusing on Biosolutions (also known under the term bioindustrials or biotechnologies within the healthcare and environmental spaces), aiming to make biotechnology a spearhead for the green transition.^[12] Novo Holdings claim that the ambition is "to help remove the roadblocks wherever they are, paving the way for promising biologic discoveries to become new solutions".^[12]

In 2021, Novo Holdings added numerous biotechnology companies to its portfolio, including 21st. BIO, which helps other biotechnology companies scale up production through an advanced technology platform.^[13]

These diverse investments include companies supplying climate-neutral cement, biopesticides, synthetic silk biopolymers and many other products and solutions that challenge current conventions. Novo Holdings added eight bioindustrial companies to its portfolio in 2021 and invested approx. €98 million ($97.35 million) in total in the bioindustrial space.^[13]

Investment profile

In 2021, the Novo Holdings portfolio focusing on Life Science Investment (Novo Seeds, Novo Growth, Novo Ventures and Novo Principal Investments^[14]) made up 52% of the total portfolio^[9] while the Novo Capital Investors made up the remaining 48% of the total portfolio.^[9] The Life Science Investment portfolio and Novo Capital Investors generated returns of approximately DKK 12 billion ($1.6 billion) in 2021.^[15][9]

• Novo Holding A/S's most common sectors for investment are life sciences (38%) and diversified (13%).^[8]
• Novo Holding A/S's most common investment types are secondary buyouts (75%) and recapitalisation (13%).^[8]
• Novo Holdings A/S has invested in three US states and five different countries.^[8]
• Novo Holdings A/S' most common type of exit is secondary buyout (100%).^[8]
• Novo Holding A/S's largest (disclosed) investment was in 2013; the acquisition of Xellia Pharmaceuticals A/S for $700 million.^[16][17][8]
• Novo Holdings A/S' largest (disclosed) exit was in 2021 when Unchained Labs was sold to The Carlyle Group for $435 million.^{[18][19][20][8]}

Novo Group

The Novo Group comprises Novo Holdings A/S, Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S. Novo Holdings A/S owns more than 25% of the ordinary share capital of Novo Nordisk A/S and controls more than 70% of the votes through its ownership of all the preferred (A) shares, which are not traded.

The Group's main purpose is to manage the financial assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation to ensure an adequate financial return to cover the Foundation's investments and grants for scientific, humanitarian and social purposes and projects in the Nordic countries and the rest of the world. The Group achieves this by investing in life science companies in Europe and North America. The Novo Group also invests in a portfolio of financial assets.^[21]

Senior management

In 2014, Henrik Gürtler stepped down as CEO after serving in the position since the company was established in 1999. He was replaced by Eivind Kolding, previously the CEO of Danske Bank.^[22] On 29 February 2016, Eivind Kolding was dismissed as CEO of Novo A/S after 2 years in the post. He was temporarily replaced until June 2016 by Sten Scheibye, Chair of the Board of Directors. His successor as CEO of Novo Holdings A/S is Kasim Kutay,^[23] a British citizen who previously worked for investment banks Morgan Stanley and Moelis & Company.

• Kasim Kutay (CEO), 2016 – current
• Sten Scheibye (Chairman and interim CEO), March 2016 – June 2018
• Eivind Kolding, 2014 – 2016
• Henrik Gürtler, 1999 – 2014

Board of directors

The Board of Directors of Novo Holdings A/S comprises six members (as of December 2018):^[24][25][26]

• Lars Rebien Sørensen (Chairman), July 2018 - current
• Steen Riisgaard (Vice Chairman)
• Viviane Monges
• Francis Michael Cyprian Cuss
• Jeppe Fonager Christiansen
• Jean-Luc Butel
• Britt Meelby Jensen
• Henrik Poulsen

REPAIR Impact Fund

In February 2018, Novo Holdings announces the establishment of an impact fund commissioned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation with a total initial budget of US$165 million to invest in companies involved in discovering and early-stage development of therapies to combat antimicrobial resistance.^[27]

According to CEO Kasim Kutay, Novo Holdings are looking to increase this type of investments in global healthcare challenges: “We are looking to increase investments of this type in the coming years, and we are excited about our potential to make a significant difference in improving global healthcare”.^[28]

REPAIR is an acronym for: Replenishing and Enabling the Pipeline for Anti-Infective Resistance.^[29]

Investments

In addition to the Novo Group, Novo Holdings A/S owns major stakes in several Danish companies, including the Xellia Group, Sonion and Chr. Hansen Holdings A/S. By the beginning of 2018 Novo Holdings A/S had a portfolio of 85 listed and unlisted Life Science companies in Europe and North America.

Novo Holdings A/S invests mainly in companies that develop, manufacture or sell medicine, new treatment methods or medical or health-related equipment.^[30]

At the end of 2017, Novo Holdings A/S had allocated nearly DKK 38 billion for investment in portfolios in Large Investments, Ventures and Seeds of DKK 31.5 billion, DKK 5.9 billion and DKK 291 million, respectively.^[31]

• In April 2021, Novo Holdings made its first investment in an Asia-based company, Halodoc^[32]
• In May 2013, Novo Holdings acquired all shares in the pharmaceutical company Xellia.^[33]
• In July 2014, Novo Holdings acquired all shares in Sonion, a manufacturer of components for the hearing aid industry.^[34]
• In March 2017, Novo Holdings acquired 20 percent of the shares in the UK listed company Convatec with Kasim Kutay, CEO of Novo Holdings A/S, joining the Board of Directors.^[35]

List of all investments^[36]

Company	Date	Investment area	Region	Status
Ellab	Jun 2023		Europe	Active
Octave	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
Commit Biologics	May 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Ray Therapeutics	May 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Alentis Therapeutics	Apr 2023	Novo Ventures	Europe	Active
FIRE1	Mar 2023	Novo Ventures	Europe	Active
Aquafortus	Feb 2023	Novo Growth		Active
Hemab Therapeutics	Feb 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
LePure	Jan 2023		Asia	Active
ZhenGe Biotech	Jan 2023		Asia	Active
Evosep	Jan 2023	Novo Growth		Active
iECURE	Dec 2023	Novo Ventures		Active
Breye Therapeutics	Nov 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
KabaFusion	Nov 2023	Principal Investments	Eastern USA	Active
MedGenome	Aug 2023		Asia	Active
Riva Therapeutics	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	North America	Active
Deep 6 AI	May 2022	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Elo Life Systems	May 2022			Active
Invetx	May 2022	Novo Growth	Eastern USA	Active
Nuvig Therapeutics	May 2022	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Engimmune Therapeutics	May 2022	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Qure.ai	Mar 2023		Asia	Active
Metagenomi	Feb 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Rondo Therapeutics	Feb 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Verana Health	Jan 2023	Novo Growth	Western USA	Active
Medical Knowledge Group	Jan 2023	Principal Investments	Eastern USA	Active
Ritedose	Jan 2023	Principal Investments	Eastern USA	Active
21st.BIO	Dec 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Clever Care Health Plan	Nov 2023	Novo Ventures	North America	Active
Asgard Therapeutics	Nov 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Jernbanebyen	Oct 2021	Novo Capital Investors	Europe	Active
BIOMILQ	Oct 2021	Novo Growth	Eastern USA	Active
Orbis Medicines	Sep 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
ZELP	Sep 2023	Novo Growth	United Kngdom	Active
Doctor Anywhere	Aug 2023		Asia	Active
Hemab	Jul 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Muna Therapeutics	Jul 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Genomatica	Jul 2023	Novo Growth	Western USA	Active
Availity	Jul 2023	Principal Investments	Eastern USA	Active
Tribune Therapeutics	Jun 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Quanta	Jun 2023	Novo Growth	United Kingdom	Active
BBI Group	Jun 2023	Principal Investments	United Kingdom	Active
AMSilk	May 2021	Novo Growth	Europe	Active
Numab	May 2021	Novo Ventures		Active
Esco	May 2021	Principal Investments	Asia	Active
Hummingbird	May 2021	Novo Ventures	Asia	Active
Halodoc	Apr 2023	Novo Ventures	Asia	Active
Stride Therapeutics	Apr 2023	Novo Ventures	North America	Active
Renewable Energy Partnership	Apr 2023	Novo Capital Investors	Europe	Active
Bactolife	Apr 2023	Novo Seeds		Active
Adcendo	Apr 2023	Novo Seeds		Active
Altasciences	Mar 2023	Principal Investments	North America	Active
Deep Branch	Mar 2023	Novo Growth	Europe	Active
BGV	Jan 2023	Novo Ventures	Europe	Active
Verve Therapeutics	Jan 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
The Protein Brewery	Nov 2023	Novo Growth	Europe	Active
Rappta Therapeutics	Aug 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
NREP	Aug 2023	Novo Capital Investors	Europe	Active
Lava Therapeutics	Aug 2023	Novo Ventures	Europe	Active
Mission Bio	Aug 2023	Novo Growth	Western USA	Active
iSD Immunotech	Jul 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Chromologics	Jul 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Freeline	Jul 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
Checkmate Pharma	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
NodThera	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Europe	Active
Exscientia	May 2020	Novo Growth	Europe	Active
Hyperbio Therapeutics	May 2020	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Kebotix	Apr 2023	Novo Growth	Eastern USA	Active
WCG	Jan 2023	Principal Investments	Eastern USA	Active
bioMASON	Dec 2023	Novo Growth	Eastern USA	Active
Allievex Corporation	Oct 2019	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
STipe Therapeutics	Oct 2019	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Cyteir Therapeutics	Aug 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
LanzaTech	Aug 2023	Novo Growth	Western USA	Active
Edgewise Therapeutics	Jul 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Amolyt Pharma	Jul 2023	Novo Ventures	Europe	Active
Glycomine	Jul 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Disk Medicine	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
Claris Bio	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
VectivBio	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Europe	Active
Vestaron	Jun 2023	Novo Growth	Eastern USA	Active
MycoWorks	May 2019	Novo Growth	Western USA	Active
Swift Health Systems / Inbrace	May 2019	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
Tempus	May 2019	Novo Growth	Western USA	Active
Oxford Biomedica	May 2019	Novo Growth	Europe	Active
Anthos Therapeutics	Jan 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
Mirum Pharmaceuticals	Nov 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Precirix	Nov 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Draupnir Bio	Oct 2018	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
BioPhero	Sep 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Exit
Morphic Therapeutics	Sep 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Envirotainer	Sep 2023	Principal Investments	Europe	Exit
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange	Aug 2023	Novo Capital Investors	Europe	Active
MDLIVE	Aug 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Exit
Aligos	Aug 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Aristea Therapeutics	Jul 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Reviral	Jul 2023	Novo Ventures	Europe	Active
Stargazer Pharmaceuticals	Apr 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Exit
Praxis Precision Medicine	Mar 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Exit
Viewpoint	Feb 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Exit
Syndesi Therapeutics	Dec 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
NorthSea Therapeutics	Dec 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Arcellx	Sep 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
Harmony Biosciences	Sep 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
Milestone Pharmaceuticals	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Exit
Antag Therapeutics	May 2017	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
AFYX	Apr 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Avalyn	Mar 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Cirius	Mar 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Exit
Convatec	Mar 2023	Principal Investments	Europe	Active
Evotec	Feb 2023	Principal Investments	Europe	Active
Inozyme Pharma	Jan 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Exit
Hoba Therapeutics	Dec 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Macrophage pharma	Dec 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Exit
Minerva Surgical	Dec 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
AMRA	Nov 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
HepaRegeniX	Nov 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
CorWave	Oct 2016	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Tarveda Therapeutics	Oct 2016	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Exit
Bolt Biotherapeutics	Sep 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Invisio	Aug 2023	Novo Capital Investors	Europe	Active
NMD Pharma	Jun 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Rgenix	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Exit
F2G Limited	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Europe	Active
Verona Pharma	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Europe	Active
Inspirna	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
ERT	May 2016	Principal Investments	Eastern USA	Exit
Clario	May 2016	Principal Investments	Eastern USA	Active
Spruce Biosciences	Apr 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
Synlab	Feb 2023	Principal Investments	Europe	Active
Nkarta	Oct 2015	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active
DADES	Jul 2023	Novo Capital Investors	Europe	Active
E-Scape Bio	Jul 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
Unchained Labs	Feb 2023	Novo Ventures	Western USA	Exit
Biosyntia	Jan 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Inthera Bioscience	Jan 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Galera Therapeutics	Jan 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Exit
Sonion	Jul 2023	Principal Investments	Europe	Active
Anokion	Mar 2023	Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
IO Biotech	Jan 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Lysogene	Jan 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Exit
Xellia Pharmaceuticals	May 2013	Principal Investments	Europe	Active
Avilex Pharma	Feb 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Forendo Pharma	Jan 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Exit
Reapplix	Jan 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Karus Therapeutics Ltd.	Jun 2023	Novo Ventures	Europe	Exit
Chr. Hansen	Jan 2023	Principal Investments	Europe	Active
Galecto Biotech	Nov 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Acesion Pharma	Jan 2023	Novo Seeds	Europe	Active
Orexo	Apr 2023	Principal Investments	Europe	Active
Inogen	Nov 2023	Principal Investments	Western USA	Exit
JUST Asia			Asia	Active
Noom		Novo Ventures	Eastern USA	Active
Reneo Pharmaceuticals		Novo Ventures	Western USA	Active

References

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External links