Investing in sustainable diabetes medication

‘Metformin is neither hugely expensive nor overly complicated to produce. That is good for the world, because in some ways the type 2 diabetes epidemic is worse than the coronavirus pandemic,’ says Alexander Karlsen, Chief Financial Officer at Vistin Pharma.

Worldwide, 500 million people live with diabetes, and five million people die from the disease each year. Of these patients, 90 per cent have type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes develops when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, the body's own blood sugar-lowering hormone. Genetics play a role, but obesity and physical inactivity can also cause the condition. Exercise and a healthier diet are the first steps in treating type 2 diabetes. If these do not produce good results, the patient is prescribed metformin-based medicines, which both lower blood sugar and enhance the effect of the insulin produced by the body.

'We see Innovation Norway not simply as a counterparty, but as a partner,' says Karlsen.

Vistin Pharma exports everything it produces, primarily to major pharmaceutical companies that use metformin in their own patented diabetes medicines. The company has one competitor in Europe, while the rest are based in Asia. Vistin has a small head office in Oslo and state-of-the-art, fully automated production facilities in Kragerø. This set-up is no coincidence.

‘We know we cannot compete on labour costs here in Norway. With automated production and efficient processes, we are now competitive in the international market,’ says Karlsen.

Over the past couple of years, the company – working with us – has invested heavily in technology to make its production as sustainable as possible. This not only reduces its own footprint but also meets market demands.

'The pharmaceutical industry has very different requirements for carbon footprints today than it did in the past. One of our major customers requires all its suppliers to reuse all water and be carbon neutral by 2030,' says Karlsen.

In 2020, Vistin Pharma launched a project that has reduced emissions from its production facilities by 98 per cent. The company achieved these emission cuts using new, groundbreaking technology. We provided an environmental grant of NOK 3.5 million to help deliver the project.

'Our support was essential in getting the project off the ground,' says Karlsen.

Vistin Pharma is also working on a major project to recycle the water used to cool the facility where metformin is produced. Currently, as much as 15 per cent of Kragerø's drinking water is used to cool the production facility.

'It makes no sense for us to use so much drinking water and tie up so much capacity. That is why we are now working on a project to recycle 80 per cent of all the water we use,' says Karlsen.

As this project is highly important to the local community and Kragerø municipality, we have also provided support for it. Karlsen is very pleased with our collaboration so far and describes us as a proactive partner in the two environmental projects the company has completed.

The company has been sold out of metformin since 2020 and is now working to double production capacity at its Kragerø facility. The goal is to reach an annual production capacity of 7,000 tonnes while reducing its overall carbon footprint.

We are supporting the company and hope that, over time, the technology it develops will drive growth and increase exports. We also hope that its investments in new environmental technology will enable other companies to cut their emissions by just as much.

'We see Vistin Pharma as a strong and exciting company, with a focus on innovation, environmental impact and increased exports,' says Guri Bjønnes Hotvedt, Head of Department at our regional office for Vestfold and Telemark.