Novo Nordisk on Thursday surpassed Tesla Inc in market valuation after the maker of the popular weight-loss drug Wegovy announced positive early trial data for a highly anticipated new obesity drug.
Shares surged more than 8% to record highs, shooting Novo Nordisk up in global rankings to the 12th most valuable company from 14 previously, after it told investors a Phase I trial of the pill version of experimental drug amycretin showed participants lost 13.1% of their weight after 12 weeks.
That compares to a weight loss of about 6% after 12 weeks and 15% after 68 weeks in trials for Wegovy, its blockbuster obesity drug.
Investors welcomed the news as indicating Novo had more in its pipeline beyond its hugely successful Wegovy. Its shares have soared since launching the weekly injections in the United States in 2021.
Novo's shares have risen more than three-fold since June 2021 when it launched Wegovy in the United States, last year becoming Europe's most valuable listed company, ahead of LVMH.
On Thursday, its market valuation reached $566 billion, ahead of Tesla and Visa, according to LSEG data.
"Novo has made clear that the amycretin molecule likely will form the foundation of the company's rapidly growing pipeline," said Guggenheim analyst Seamus Fernandez.
Nearly half of Novo's current valuation is based on the company's pipeline of new experimental drugs such as amycretin, according to calculations by Berenberg analysts last week.
Markus Manns, a portfolio manager at Union Investment in Germany and Novo shareholder, said the early read-out also compared favourably with other weight-loss pills in development, such as rival Eli Lilly's orforglipron.
Lilly's mid-stage trial showed its experimental pill led to 14.7% weight loss after 36 weeks for people who were obese or overweight.
The U.S. drugmaker's shares slipped on the upbeat Novo update while shares in Zealand Pharma , which is testing a similar treatment, jumped more than 9%.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/novo-nordisk-present-early-drug-071135073.html
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