Novo Nordisk flags patient data breach from some clinical trials in cyberattack

June 11 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk said on Thursday it has identified a security incident in which certain information, including patient data from some clinical trials, was copied externally without authorization from its internal IT systems.

The company, maker of the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, said it has launched a probe with the assistance of external cybersecurity experts and is in contact with the relevant authorities.

"The incident affected a limited amount of information related to patients participating in some of our clinical trials," Novo said in its statement, without disclosing what type of trials.

The potential categories of personal data affected may include patient ID, year of birth, sex and health or immunogenicity data among others, it added.Novo did not provide further details when contacted by Reuters.

In its statement, Novo said the information is not directly linked to any patients by name or other direct identifiers, and it does not consider the incident to enable any third party to identify participants in its clinical trials.

Knowledge of patient identity would require access to further information, which was not part of the incident, the company added.

The drugmaker said it does not view the incident as posing any immediate risks to patients, but advised that they report any unusual occurrences they believe could be linked to the incident.

The company has temporarily taken certain internal IT systems offline, and is working to bring the affected systems back online in a controlled and safe manner.

The company's core business operations are not impacted and remain up and running, it added.

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Leroy Leo)