Founding and Early Insulin Production

Nordisk Insulin Laboratorium (NIL), now known as Novo Nordisk A/S, founded Niels Steensen’s Hospital in 1932. A decade earlier, in 1922, Dr Hans Christian Hagedorn, Nobel Prize laureate August Krogh, and industrialist August Kongsted began producing insulin for the first time in Europe.

Hagedorn: The Man Behind It All

Hagedorn, originally a practising physician, was also a highly academic and visionary businessman. He was deeply interested in understanding the development of diabetes and improving its treatment — particularly in relation to insulin, diet, and physical activity.

He was closely involved in designing the hospital, down to the smallest details — from the development of custom hospital beds to planting an apple orchard intended to encourage patients to live healthier lives.

The First Diabetes Hospital in the Nordic Region

The opening of Niels Steensen’s Hospital, the first diabetes hospital in the Nordic region, drew attention from across Europe. It marked the beginning of a unique private–public partnership which, ever since, has led to significant advances: improving prognosis for people with diabetes, expanding global understanding of the disease and its complications, and informing international treatment guidelines.

Collaboration with the Public Healthcare System

Initially, patients from across the Nordic countries could be referred to Niels Steensen’s Hospital. However, it was primarily Danish patients with type 1 diabetes who were treated. Some were referred through the public healthcare system; others sought treatment independently.

For patients with limited means, the costs were covered by the Nordisk Insulin Fund — now the Novo Nordisk Foundation — and up to 75% of patients were treated free of charge.

The hospital’s partnership with the public healthcare system grew over time. By the 1970s, a formal agreement with Copenhagen County allowed patients with type 1 — and later, type 2 — diabetes to be referred directly from public hospitals.

Steno Today: A Public Hospital

Today, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen is the largest diabetes clinic in Scandinavia, treating more than 11,000 children and adults each year from the Capital Region.

SDCC was established with a donation of DKK 2.95 billion from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. In addition to supporting numerous collaborative activities across the region, this donation also enabled the construction of a state-of-the-art diabetes centre in Herlev.