Hans Christian Hagedorn
Hans Christian Hagedorn was the creator of NPH insulin and the founder of Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium, which is known today as Novo Nordisk.
Early life and education
Hagedorn was born in Copenhagen. His father was the captain of a coaster adapted for use as a folk high school ship where aspiring sailors received training in navigation as well as other subjects. Hagedorn attended Hesselager Latin School on Funen. In 1916, he began to study medicine at the University of Copenhagen. During his studies, he worked as an assistant for Carl Julius Salomonsen. He also assisted Christian Bohr.Career
Hagedorn joined forces with Nobel laureate August Krogh to obtain rights for insulin production in the Nordic countries from Frederick Banting and Charles Best of Toronto.In 1923 they formed Nordisk Insulinlaboratorium, and in 1926 with August Krogh he obtained a Danish royal charter 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, 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. Protamine zinc insulin was first created in 1936 and neutral protamine Hagedorn insulin in 1946. NPH insulin is the complex of protamine and insulin at neutral pH. It is one of the earliest examples of engineering drug delivery.