Novo Nordisk’s new weight loss drug beats Weagovy in early trial

(NewsNation) — Shares of Norvo Nordisk reached a record high Thursday after the company announced positive early trial data for a highly anticipated new weight loss drug.

The company’s shares surpassed Tesla Inc., surging more than 8% to record highs, shooting Norvo Nordisk up in global rankings to the 12th most valuable company from 14 previously. This comes after it told investors a Phase I trial of the pill version of the 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, Norvo’s popular weight-loss 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 Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, commonly known as LVMH.

On Thursday, its market valuation reached $566 billion, ahead of Tesla and Visa, according to the London Stock Exchange Gropu (LSEG) data.

Novo’s shares surged 5.1% to a record peak following the announcement.

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.

Wegovy belongs to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists, originally designed to treat type 2 diabetes, that have been shown to reduce food cravings and empty the stomach more slowly.

Following the success of these drugs, companies are working on other promising weight-loss therapies such as amycretin which targets a hormone called amylin in the pancreas that affects hunger.

Reuters contributed to this story.