Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk has announced its decision to put donations to United States politicians on hold until further notice.
The decision was made after last week's tumult, when a mob of US President Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in Washington DC in a bid to protest election results they consider fraudulent. The debacle cost five lives and resulted in widespread damage and vandalism.
Although companies are technically not allowed to donate money to American politicians, an opportunity remains to do so indirectly, via so-called Political Action Committees or PACs. On the other hand, top executives and senior managers are perfectly allowed to do so, like ordinary Americans.
“We have placed donations from our PAC on hold and we will now look at how we will approach political donations going forward,” the company told the newspaper Finans.
The company underscored that it “condemns” the attack on the US Congress, and is “glad” that the nation's democratic process has “prevailed” and that the election results were approved.
According to Finans, Novo Nordisk donated just over DKK 2.3 million ($380,000) to American politicians in 2020 with a small tilt towards the Democrats.
Novo Nordisk is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company with headquartered in Bagsværd, Greater Copenhagen. It has production facilities in eight countries and affiliates or offices in five countries; it employs 40 000 people worldwide.
Novo Nordisk specialises in diabetes medication (which accounts for over 80 percent of its business), alongside hemostasis management, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy.
Novo Nordisk founded the World Diabetes foundation specifically to combat diabetes in developing countries and supported a UN resolution to fight diabetes, making diabetes the only other disease alongside HIV/AIDS to have a commitment at UN level.
The US branch of Novo Novdisk is one of the largest. Headquartered in Plainsboro, New Jersey, with locations in other seven states, it employs nearly 6 000 people. Its products are estimated to be used by 4 million Americans.