Thorvald Pedersen

Thorvald Andreas Pedersen (5 August 1887 – 19 September 1961) was a Danish pharmacist, chemist, and industrialist. Together with his brother Harald Pedersen, he co-founded the pharmaceutical company Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium in 1925, a predecessor of Novo Nordisk.

Early life and education Thorvald Pedersen was born in Øster Hurup, Denmark, in 1887, the youngest of ten children in a schoolteacher's family. Fascinated by botany and natural sciences, he trained as a pharmacist in Hobro and graduated in 1910. After further studies in chemistry, he worked at Otto Mønsteds Margarinefabrik in Aarhus and from 1918 to 1923 as an analytical chemist at Dansk Sojakagefabrik in Copenhagen. Out of solidarity, his brother Harald, who worked as a machinist and engineer at Krogh's laboratory, resigned as well.

Founding of Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium In February 1925 the Pedersen brothers founded Novo Terapeutisk Laboratorium as an enterprise for insulin production. While Harald oversaw mechanical and production engineering, Thorvald led the laboratory's chemical and analytical work, developing purification processes for insulin. Their first product, Insulin Novo, reached the Danish market in 1925.