Novo Holdings A/S is the holding and investment company of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, responsible for managing the Foundation's assets and wealth. Its stated purpose is to improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating long-term returns on the Foundation's assets. Its work splits into two parts. First, it is the controlling shareholder of the Novo Group companies Novo Nordisk A/S and Novonesis A/S, holding more than 25 per cent of the ordinary share capital of each, including all the preferred A shares, and more than 70 per cent of the votes; the firm states its strategy is to be a stable and supportive owner of the Novo Group. Second, it runs an investment portfolio in two parts: Life Science Investments, made up of the Seed, Venture, Principal Investments, Planetary Health Investments and Asia teams, and Capital Investments, which manages equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity, builds relationships with external equity and fixed income fund managers, and makes direct public equity and bond investments. The firm says it invests in almost all life science segments including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical technology, healthcare services and industrial biosolutions, across North America, Europe and Asia. It is headquartered in Hellerup, Denmark, with offices in Boston, San Francisco, London, Singapore, Shanghai and Mumbai, and states that it employs more than 200 people and has made 180-plus direct investments.
€93B (approx.; DKK 694bn total assets under management at 31 December 2025, per the Novo Holdings Annual Report 2025, of which DKK 407bn is the holding in Novo Nordisk) AUM83/100 Power Score™1999 FoundedHellerup, Denmark
Novo A/S, the predecessor entity of Novo Holdings A/S, is established as the Novo Nordisk Foundation's holding and investment company; the founding year is taken from Wikipedia and was not confirmed on the firm's own site.
2017
Novo Holdings takes the public shareholdings in Convatec and in Evotec that it would hold until 2025, per the Annual Report 2025.
2017
Novo A/S is renamed Novo Holdings A/S. The firm's own release of 23 June 2017 is headed 'Novo A/S renamed Novo Holdings A/S' and opens 'Novo A/S, the holding company for the companies in the Novo Group, is changing its name to Novo Holdings A/S.'
2024
Novo Holdings completes its acquisition of Catalent on 18 December 2024.
2025
Novo Holdings sells its approximately 20 per cent public shareholding in Convatec and its approximately 8 per cent public shareholding in Evotec, both held since 2017.
2025
Total assets under management end the year at DKK 694bn, down from DKK 1,060bn a year earlier, with total income and investment returns of DKK 21bn.
2026
Novo Holdings commits EUR 500 million to the Scaleup Europe Fund, announced 4 June 2026.