BeijingJune 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the fourth China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) grandly opened in Beijing. The 2026 CISCE focuses on core global supply chain topics such as digitalization, green development, innovation, and health. As a deep participant and long-term practitioner in these areas, Novo Nordisk, a global leading biopharmaceutical company, is attending for the fourth consecutive year, comprehensively showcasing its strategic layout across the entire industry chain in China, as well as its latest achievements in building a full-cycle, full-chain ecosystem.
Novo Nordisk booth at the 4th CISCE
On the opening day, Novo Nordisk announced the expansion of its health “circle of friends” through deepened cross-sector collaboration, taking concrete actions to provide patients with full-cycle health support.
- Innovative drug-device synergy, reshaping the “digital scale“ of chronic diseases: Novo Nordisk officially established a diabetes drug-device (CGM) alliance, signing a framework cooperation memorandum with SIBIONICS, MicroTech Medical, and Outech Technology. Leveraging an innovative drug-device synergy model, the initiative aims to promote the combined application of innovative glucose-lowering drugs + innovative continuous glucose monitoring, enabling evidence-based treatment, data-driven monitoring, and closed-loop management, accelerating the digital and standardized development of chronic disease management.
- Crossing cognitive boundaries, building a digital platform for science communication: Novo Nordisk signed a cooperation memorandum with Ant Health to jointly explore and build a full-chain AI-driven digital ecosystem for chronic disease management, enhancing patient awareness of obesity and weight management.
- Activating digital intelligence, upgrading the “hardcore foundation“ of logistics: Novo Nordisk, together with Sinopharm Logistics, witnessed the milestone moment of the full operation of the Regional Distribution Center (RDC) project. Through the successful operation of a seven-RDC network, the project completed the upgrade of logistics systemization and digital intelligence management. This deep localized supply chain collaboration ensures that innovative drugs can reach patients more efficiently and safely.
At this year’s CISCE, by centrally presenting its “three chains” — the global innovation chain, intelligent manufacturing chain, and health ecosystem chain — Novo Nordisk delivered its strategic answer sheet for deeply cultivating the Chinese market and partnering to build a full-cycle, full-chain chronic disease prevention and control ecosystem.
Innovation as the Source: Global Synchronization, Benefiting Chinese Patients
China’s innovation ecosystem continues to develop, with its importance in the global pharmaceutical R&D landscape steadily rising, creating broader space for the transformation of innovative achievements and patient benefits. Novo Nordisk is accelerating its local innovation布局, integrating global wisdom to facilitate more efficient transformation of innovative outcomes.
As the first R&D center established by a multinational pharmaceutical company in China, the Novo Nordisk China R&D Center has become a vital part of the company’s global innovation network. Its INNOVO® open innovation platform continues to drive open innovation collaborations, focusing on key areas such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, as well as AI-assisted drug discovery and frontier technology exploration, having facilitated approximately 50 collaboration projects to date.
The “China Co-Development” project continues to yield results: Following the global simultaneous approval in 2024 of the world’s first once-weekly basal insulin, NovoSwitch® (Icodec insulin), in March this year, the world’s first once-weekly basal insulin/GLP-1RA combination, NovoJie® (Icodec insulin semaglutide injection), was approved in China. China will be the first country for the commercial launch of NovoJie®.
Additionally, the triple-target receptor agonist UBT251, jointly developed by The United Laboratories and Novo Nordisk, has shown positive data in Phase 2 clinical trials for Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes and Chinese patients who are overweight or obese, bringing Chinese wisdom to the global stage.
Ecosystem as a Bridge: Synergy for Success, Full-Cycle Health Protection
Currently, chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity have become global public health challenges. China has approximately 148 million diabetes patients, with the proportion of obese adults reaching 20.1% (approximately 228 million people), and the combined rate of overweight and obesity among adult residents reaching 56.9%. Facing this heavy disease burden, Novo Nordisk is accelerating the deepening of collaborations, further expanding its health “circle of friends,” and advancing business model transformation to provide patients with full-cycle health management support.
At the academic exchange level, Novo Nordisk has created high-end academic exchange platforms such as the Novo Nordisk Development Forum (NNDU) and the Novo Nordisk Obesity Forum (NNOU), continuously promoting the improvement of diagnosis and treatment levels for chronic metabolic diseases.
With the deep penetration of the internet and the development of AI technology, more patients are inclined to obtain health information, schedule appointments, and manage their daily care through online channels. In response to this trend, Novo Nordisk has previously established partnerships with online medical and health platforms such as JD Health, Alibaba Health, Tencent Health, and Ping An Good Doctor, jointly building a digital chronic disease management ecosystem.
At the science education level, Novo Nordisk, through initiatives like the “Light Bus Science Communication Project,” invites medical experts and cross-sector guests to participate, bringing scientific knowledge into public life and effectively enhancing public awareness of obesity prevention and control.
Simultaneously, Novo Nordisk, together with retail pharmacies, launched the “Retail Scientific Weight Management Ecosystem Alliance,” promoting the establishment of standardized weight management service systems and professional talent training, bridging the “last mile” of obesity management.
Supply as the Foundation: Consolidating New Quality Productive Forces, Ensuring Patient Needs
Ensuring that innovative achievements benefit patients requires the support of a stable, efficient, and resilient supply chain system. Novo Nordisk, together with local supply chain partners, continues to promote the localized production and collaborative development of innovative products, cultivating new quality productive forces that are high-tech, high-efficiency, high-quality, and sustainable, ensuring that innovative drugs can be delivered to patients promptly and safely.
As one of Novo Nordisk’s global strategic production bases, the Tianjin production plant not only supplies injection devices and finished drug products to the Chinese and global markets but has also achieved a 87% local procurement rate. Among these, approximately 70% of suppliers are deeply rooted in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, providing efficient and stable long-term support for the pharmaceutical supply chain through a highly collaborative local industrial cluster. This year, Novo Nordisk invested an additional 200 million RMB to increase the production capacity of the 1.5ml FlexTouch® injection pen, meeting patients’ diverse medication needs. The Tianjin plant also extensively applies AI technology in production processes for process analysis, product inspection, and production optimization, continuously improving overall production efficiency and operational levels.
As a company committed to sustainable development, Novo Nordisk has set a goal of achieving “zero environmental impact,” pledging to reach net-zero emissions across its entire value chain by 2045. The Tianjin production plant has been powered by 100% renewable electricity since 2015. Since the beginning of 2023, its controlled waste recycling rate has significantly increased from 28% to over 70%. Additionally, the Tianjin plant has established a “Circular Zero Pollution” assessment model, actively exploring the use of digital and intelligent technologies for energy conservation and emission reduction, injecting new momentum into the green and high-quality development of the pharmaceutical industry.
Christine Zhou, Senior Vice President and President of Novo Nordisk Greater China, stated: “Participating in the CISCE for four consecutive years has given us a deeper appreciation of the importance of open cooperation for the innovative development of the industry chain. Looking ahead, Novo Nordisk will continue its ‘full-chain synergy’ model of R&D, production, and operations to meet patient needs, working hand-in-hand with upstream and downstream partners in the industry chain to jointly build a health ecosystem covering disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and long-term management.”