About

Consisting of nine people, the legal team at the Turkish subsidiary of Danish multinational pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has doubled in number in the past two years to meet increased regulations and compliance risks, and is set to expand further in the future. Under a culture of ‘innovation and efficiency’ the team has set up ‘centres of excellence where each lawyer can focus on getting more expertise and also serving a specific stakeholder group while establishing good dialogue to serve the business better’, says Meltem Ozker Gunduz, legal affairs and compliance director for the Near East business area. The team has received industry awards for preparing a strategic three-year legal and compliance plan, which was embedded in all interactions of the company. This excellent operation approach generated good audit results, better internal controls, identification of areas of improvement for lawyers and development opportunities for further learning. Other workstreams the team earned recognition for include a “competition law strategy” – where training, information materials and monitoring activities were provided to relevant stakeholders – and “Pharmarulex”, a consolidated information pack on laws and regulations on pharmaceuticals, presented in a drug box in a light-hearted yet educational way that was very well received by stakeholders. As a result of the team’s compliance agenda, they have proactively ensured the company and employees meet the necessary requirements. A demonstration of their achievements came during the successful handling of a random dawn raid from the Competition Authority; Novo Nordisk had no problems, handling it successfully with no fines and no further investigation as it already had implemented a “Competition Law Strategy” where training, information materials and monitoring activities were provided proactively to the relevant stakeholders. The pharmaceutical sector encourages business and legal teams to become intertwined in order to avoid legal and compliance risk, and the team at Novo Nordisk has become a prime example of this relationship. Legal continues to overcome market changes with new products and technologies, spreading its innovative approach throughout the company and enabling it to serve patients better.