NOVO VENTURES

Novo A/S is a Danish private limited liability company wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and the holding company of the Novo Group and as such the majority shareholder in the publicly listed companies Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S. Novo A/S was established in 1999 prior to the demerger of Novo Nordisk A/S, where Novozymes A/S was established as a stand-alone publicly listed company. Novo's purpose and objectives are to manage the Foundation's financial assets and to ensure the... Foundation sufficient dividends to cover its grant obligations for medical and scientific research etc. in Scandinavia. Novo A/S attains these objectives through: compliance with the rules and principles which are set out in the Articles of Association of the Novo Nordisk Foundation regarding exercise of the voting rights of A and B shares in Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S, respectively, assurance that all companies in which the company has a material influence actively contribute to the development of the Novo Group and operate their business in accordance with the visions and values of the Novo Group, maintenance of a material influence on Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S, and investment and financing business including placing of capital in companies and real property domestically and abroad. Novo’s overall investment strategy is thus to maintain ownership of Novo Nordisk’ and Novozymes’ shares at a level just above 25% and to invest dividends from these companies and other income in the life science area as well as in a broad portfolio of financial assets. Novo A/S has since 1999 established itself as an international venture capital partner in the life science area and has invested in over 50 companies in Denmark, Europe and North America. Through its financial investment activities Novo A/S seeks to spread the company’s total financial risk and at the same time to ensure a high return taking into consideration the chosen risk profile. In 2007 Novo A/S together with the Novo Nordisk Foundation established ‘Novo Seeds’. The new program (split into two sub-programs) is aimed at supporting early stage applied research in the life science area in Scandinavia. At the beginning of 2009 Novo A/S launched a new initiative, investing 'growth equity' into promising later stage/commercial stage life science companies. Novo A/S represents the interests of the Novo Nordisk Foundation through participation on the boards of the companies in the Novo Group. The companies in the Novo Group are members of a 'family of companies', independently managed, but sharing a set of common values as set out in the 'Charter for Companies in the Novo Group'. In the Charter these core values, commitments and management principles that companies in the Novo Group should live up to are described.More