This Sustainability Report is part of Novo Nordisk's annual reporting in the calendar year 2002.

Issued together with the Annual Financial Report and the Annual Review in February 2003, it accounts for Novo Nordisk's performance against targets, strategies, activities and new targets regarding social, environmental, ethical and socio-economic issues that affect our company's future business performance.

The report has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) 2002 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines and the AA1000 Framework. The underlying data set has been verified according to the AA1000S Assurance Standard. Together, these international reporting frameworks are useful tools to guide the identification, evaluation and presentation of key issues for the report. Cross-references to the GRI are available in the 'Performance' section.

Further, Novo Nordisk is a signatory to the ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Development and the UN Global Compact. To the best of our knowledge the report provides a balanced and reasonable presentation of Novo Nordisk's contribution to sustainable development for 2002.

As a pharmaceutical company with global reach, Novo Nordisk is engaged in a range of activities to support sustainable development. All of these are founded in the company's corporate governance framework.

The report aims to capture the organisation's 'footprint' in terms of social, environmental and economic impacts on society. Hence, we account for our performance in relation to targets, major achievements and key issues.

It does not provide a full coverage of all our activities. The scope of the report is Novo Nordisk A/S.

Environmental data cover the significant part of the organisation, ie all production sites, except for the small site in Tianjin, the environmental impact of which we deem insignificant. Social data cover all employees. Economic data are quoted from the Annual Financial Report and cover the Novo Nordisk Group.

Engagements in joint ventures and contract licensees are not included in the report scope, but key suppliers have been evaluated on their social and environmental performance.

Since the last report was published in March 2002, Novo Nordisk has gained full ownership of a production facility in Brazil, Biobrás. Data for Biobrás are included in the social and the economic data, while environmental data will be included in the 2003 report. Accounting principles and the full data set can be found in the internet version.

In 2002, there have been no significant restatements, and there have been no significant changes in the measurement methods applied to key economic, environmental and social data in 2002.

Key issues are identified through ongoing stakeholder engagement and addressed by programmes or action plans with clear and measurable targets. Stretch targets are set to guide the long-term efforts in strategic areas, such as global access to health.

The issues presented in the report are deemed to have a significant impact on the company's future business performance and may support stakeholders in their decision-making.

This report is reaching out to a wide range of stakeholders, each with their specific needs and interests. To most of our stakeholders, however, the report is but a single element of our interaction and communication. It reflects how we have addressed stakeholder concerns and interests in dealing with the dilemmas and issues. Stakeholder dialogue is an invaluable part of our efforts, and we encourage readers to give us feedback to this report.

For your ease of access to discuss the issues, contact details are provided in the 'Contact us' section.

The Sustainability Report is available in English and Danish (in print and pdf format), in an internet version, and as site reports for our major production facilities in local languages (also available in English on the internet).

To ensure the accuracy, completeness and reliability of our Sustainability Report, Novo Nordisk performs various internal controls of procedures applied and data gathered. The statements in the 'Performance' section explain how the assurance provider has assessed this report and our systems, structures and processes that deliver the relevant information and underpin our performance, following the guidance provided in the AA1000S Assurance Standard.