Hans Christian Hagedorn (6 March 1888 – 6 October 1971) was the creator of

NPH insulin Neutral Protamine Hagedorn (NPH) insulin, also known as isophane insulin, is an intermediate-acting insulin given to help control blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. It is used by injection under the skin once to twice a day. Onset of ...

and the founder of

Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, Denmark, with production facilities in nine countries, and affiliates or offices in five countries. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder ...

, which is known today as

Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, Denmark, with production facilities in nine countries, and affiliates or offices in five countries. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder ...

Biography

Hagedorn and

August Krogh Schack August Steenberg Krogh (15 November 1874 – 13 September 1949) was a Danish professor at the department of zoophysiology at the University of Copenhagen from 1916 to 1945. He contributed a number of fundamental discoveries within severa ...

(1874–1949) obtained the rights for insulin from Banting and Best in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. In 1923 they formed

, and in 1926 with

he obtained a Danish

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

as a non-profit foundation. In the 1930s he became interested in modifying the absorption rate of insulin. He was aware that contaminating proteins slowed the absorption of insulin into the bloodstream, but these caused irritation and side effects. Thus he searched for a protein that would not cause any irritation. He came upon

protamine Protamines are small, arginine-rich, nuclear proteins that replace histones late in the haploid phase of spermatogenesis and are believed essential for sperm head condensation and DNA stabilization. They may allow for denser packaging of DNA in t ...

, a protein isolated from fish sperm. Hagedorn discovered that the addition of protamine to insulin caused the insulin to form microscopic clumps. These clumps took longer to dissolve into the bloodstream. This complex of protamine and insulin is known as NPH (neutral protamine Hagedorn) insulin. It is one of the earliest example of engineering

drug delivery Drug delivery refers to approaches, formulations, manufacturing techniques, storage systems, and technologies involved in transporting a pharmaceutical compound to its target site to achieve a desired therapeutic effect. Principles related to dr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagedorn, Hans Christian 1888 births 1971 deaths Danish pharmacologists