Novo Nordisk surpassed Tesla in market valuation on Thursday after popular weight-loss drug makers Wigovy and Ozempic announced positive data in early trials of their long-awaited new obesity drug.
Shares soared more than 8% to an all-time high after investors were informed that participants in a Phase I trial of a tablet version of the experimental drug amicletin lost 13.1% of their strength, pushing Novo in the global rankings to a record high. Nordisk jumped to 12th place from its previous 14th place. Weight after 12 weeks.
This compares with clinical trials of the company’s blockbuster obesity drug, Wegovy, which showed weight loss of about 6% after 12 weeks and 15% after 68 weeks.
Investors welcomed the news as a sign that Novo has work in the pipeline beyond the hugely successful Wegovy.
The company’s stock has soared since it began administering weekly shots in the U.S. in 2021.
Novo’s share price has more than tripled since June 2021, when it launched Wegobee in the U.S., and last year overtook LVMH to become Europe’s most valuable listed company.
The company’s market valuation reached $566 billion on Thursday, surpassing Tesla and Visa, according to LSEG data.
“Novo has made clear that the amicletin molecule is likely to become the cornerstone of its rapidly growing pipeline,” said Guggenheim analyst Seamus Fernandez.
Following the announcement, Novo’s stock price rose 5.1%, hitting a record high.
Berenberg analysts calculated last week that nearly half of Novo’s current valuation is based on the company’s pipeline of new experimental drugs, including amicletin.
Wegovy belongs to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists, originally designed to treat type 2 diabetes, and has been shown to suppress appetite and empty the stomach more slowly .
The success of these drugs has led companies to work on other promising weight-loss therapies, such as amicletin, which targets a hormone called amylin in the pancreas that affects hunger.
Wegovy is the first of a new group of highly effective weight loss drugs to be launched.
Novo and Eli Lilly are so far the leaders in the obesity drug market, which analysts predict will be worth $100 billion by 2030.
Heart disease
CEO Lars Fluergaard Jorgensen also announced that the company will expand its focus on diabetes and weight loss treatments to include cardiovascular disease treatments.
The changes come after the company announced last August that a large-scale study showed Wigovy also had clear benefits for cardiovascular disease, moving it beyond its image as a lifestyle drug. This comes as the company strengthens its efforts to
“Companies that rely heavily on one therapeutic area need to try to develop other pillars of support,” said Wolfgang Rickl, portfolio manager at KB-Vermögensverwaltung.
“The full success of diabetes and obesity will make it difficult, but the cardiovascular field makes sense given the many synergies,” he said.
After the August trial, Novo told skeptical health insurance companies that Wegovy’s long-term benefits are sufficient to reduce the overall burden on the health care system and the cost of treating heart disease in people who are overweight and obese. I’ve been trying to convince you that it is.
