Ozempic Maker Novo Nordisk Confirms Security Incident After $25M Hacker Demand

Novo Nordisk has confirmed unauthorized access to a limited set of its internal IT systems after hackers from FulcrumSec claimed they stole 1.3TB of data from the Ozempic and Wegovy maker and demanded $25 million.

The message was blunt enough to be terrifying: pay $25 million, or face the fallout.

Novo Nordisk. the Danish pharmaceutical company behind Ozempic and Wegovy. now says it has confirmed unauthorized access to a limited number of its internal IT systems after a hacker group identified as FulcrumSec claimed it had been inside its networks for more than two months. The group’s claim adds up to an alarm that goes beyond patient privacy—because it also touches clinical trial information. proprietary research. and internal AI assets.

FulcrumSec’s demand comes alongside a specific theft allegation. The group claimed it stole 1.3TB of data from Novo Nordisk, and it said it spent more than two months inside the company’s systems. Novo Nordisk says the full scope and authenticity of the hackers’ claims are still unverified.

In its incident update. Novo Nordisk said it had identified “unauthorised access to a limited number of internal IT systems.” The company also said the incident involved personal data related to clinical trial patients. but that the data was pseudonymized and not directly linked to names or other direct identifiers.

The company told patients there was nothing they needed to do. “This communication serves as information only, and there is no need for our patients to take any specific action as a result of the incident,” Novo Nordisk stated.

Still, the categories of information that may have been exposed are wide, and that breadth is where the risk sharpens. Novo Nordisk highlighted that the exposed categories may include patient IDs. trial participation information. sex. year of birth. biomarkers. health and immunogenicity data. and lifestyle factors such as smoking. alcohol use. and BMI.

According to the claims surrounding the breach, the hunt for what was taken extends further than clinical records. FulcrumSec claimed it stole proprietary information on released and unreleased drugs. trial data. employee. doctor. and patient data. source code. processing facility information. and internal AI model information.

The stakes are reflected in the way the group allegedly moved after Novo Nordisk refused to pay. FulcrumSec claimed it would explore private sales of some stolen data, and it also pointed to a leaking campaign after the refusal. Novo Nordisk has not verified the authenticity of the posted materials.

BankInfoSecurity reported that FulcrumSec began leaking samples it claimed came from the stolen data. The outlet said the group claimed the trove included login screenshots. clinical trial-related information. details tied to AI models. 30 trained AI models. 70 datasets. and 494 gigabytes of proprietary cell painting microscopy images.

FulcrumSec also claimed how it first got in. The group said it gained initial access in March through exposed credentials, including an Azure Container Registry credential and a GitHub personal access token. Those claims have not been independently confirmed.

There are also limits built into the hackers’ own messaging. FulcrumSec said it would not share some data, including information tied to employees, physicians, and about 11,500 pseudonymized clinical trial patients, describing the move as a “harm-reduction strategy.”

Novo Nordisk, for its part, says its core business operations remain up and running. The company reported that it launched an investigation with cybersecurity experts and took steps to address the incident. including temporarily bringing certain internal IT systems offline to protect its environment.

The sequence here is uncomfortable because it threads together two kinds of value that healthcare companies rely on and protect for very different reasons: data that can identify—or at least characterize—people in clinical trials. and the technical assets that turn years of research into future products. Even when the company says the information was pseudonymized and not directly tied to names. the categories listed include highly specific details such as biomarkers and immunogenicity data. alongside lifestyle factors like smoking. alcohol use. and BMI.

At the same time, the claims of access to internal AI model information, proprietary cell painting microscopy images, and source code point to a different kind of exposure—one that can’t be “fixed” with a privacy notice after the fact.

Mike Hamilton, CISO emeritus at Datec, described clinical trial data as “one of the most valuable types of data that can be held by a healthcare sector organization.” The concern isn’t only who might see it, but what it could enable—whether sold, leaked, or used to accelerate competing research.

Hamilton’s warning lands on another detail FulcrumSec itself claimed: a long dwell time. The group said it remained inside Novo Nordisk’s environment for more than two months. If accurate. that raises questions about detection. access controls. credential management. and monitoring in environments where research work can’t simply pause.

Novo Nordisk’s announcement is also a reminder that regulated industries are now facing threats that look more like an engineering problem than a classic “breach” story. Identity and developer credentials, research platforms, and internal AI resources increasingly sit alongside patient information in the threat model.

For now. the most concrete fact is this: Novo Nordisk has confirmed unauthorized access to a limited number of internal IT systems. and it is investigating what that access means. The hacker group’s broader claims—1.3TB stolen, internal AI models exposed, and a $25 million demand—remain unverified. But the categories at stake. and the time window described. are enough to keep the pressure on as the investigation continues.

Novo Nordisk Ozempic Wegovy FulcrumSec cybersecurity incident data theft clinical trial data pseudonymized data internal AI models Azure Container Registry GitHub personal access token ransomware extortion