Denmark joins race to host EU drug agency instead of London after Brexit

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - The Danish government on Wednesday teamed up with the former head of drug company Novo Nordisk in its campaign to become the new host of the London-based European Medicines Agency (EMA) after Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

"EMA should be situated in a place where there is a strong tradition of putting the patient in focus... We have that in Denmark," said Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen in a statement.

Denmark is not the only country courting to EMA and will compete with offers from other EU members including Sweden, Spain, France and Poland.

Denmark is home to a cluster of pharmaceutical and biotech companies including companies like Novo Nordisk, the world's largest diabetes drug maker, Lundbeck and Genmab.

The government appointed former Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Rebien Sorensen as a special envoy being tasked with promoting the Danish offer.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen)