A cyber extortion group has claimed it stole more than a terabyte of data from Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk after the company allegedly refused to pay a $25 million ransom.
The group, known as FulcrumSec, said on Tuesday it had spent more than two months inside Novo Nordisk’s internal systems, extracting sensitive information including source code, proprietary drug data, clinical trial records and internal artificial intelligence models.
In a statement posted online, FulcrumSec said the breach included data on both released and unreleased pharmaceutical products, as well as employee, physician and patient information.
Novo Nordisk confirmed it was aware of the claims, saying it had identified a cybersecurity incident earlier this month involving unauthorised access to a limited number of internal IT systems.
The company said it was in contact with relevant authorities and that its core platforms remained operational.
Reuters said it could not independently verify the authenticity of the leaked material.
FulcrumSec said it first contacted Novo Nordisk executives on 1 June and claimed company representatives responded two days later through a Proton Mail address, requesting specific files as proof of the breach.
The group said it is now considering private sales of portions of the data after negotiations failed.
Novo Nordisk, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, is best known for blockbuster obesity and diabetes treatments Wegovy and Ozempic, which have become central to the fast-growing global weight-loss drug market.
Cybersecurity researchers say FulcrumSec is a relatively new but increasingly active extortion group. Thomas Willkan of Lab-1 said the group has built a reputation for credible breaches and technical sophistication.
The hackers said they would not release certain datasets, including files related to roughly 11,500 pseudonymised clinical trial participants and sensitive operational technology used in production facilities, citing what they described as a “harm-reduction strategy.”
The breach underscores growing cybersecurity risks facing the pharmaceutical industry, where clinical trial data, proprietary drug research and manufacturing systems have become high-value targets for ransomware and extortion groups.
Industry analysts warn such incidents can carry major financial, legal and reputational consequences, particularly when patient or trial data is involved.
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