Canadian affiliate donates 100,000 dollars to diabetes birthplace
Novo Nordisk celebrated the 85th anniversary of the first insulin injection with a major donation to the Banting House National Historic Site of Canada.
Vince Lamanna, Rachel Marriana and Grant Maltman in the room where Frederick Banting awoke with his idea for treating diabetes.
The donation of 100,000 Canadian dollars will enable the Canadian Diabetes Association to redesign the Banting House’s History of Diabetes Gallery. The new gallery will feature a computerised interactive display, new panels, display cases and artefacts designed to tell the story of insulin.
An online version of the exhibition at www.diabetes.ca is also planned.
The gift of insulin
In 1922, Frederick Banting gave the Danish researcher August Krogh permission to produce the life-saving substance in Denmark, notes Tanya Wymer, corporate communications manager for Novo Nordisk Canada Inc.
“Novo Nordisk was given the gift of insulin, so the donation is recognition of Banting’s contribution to diabetes treatment and to our history as a company,” she says.
The donation, which was the largest in the history of the Banting House, was presented during a ceremony on 27 February 2007.
Afterwards, Novo Nordisk Canada President Vince Lamanna, Rachel Marriana (a child with diabetes), Banting House Curator Grant Maltman and other guests posed for pictures – for example, in the room where Frederick Banting awoke in the middle of the night with his idea for how to treat diabetes.
