Novo Nordisk market cap surpasses Tesla on new weight problems capsule trial knowledge

Wegovy weight problems drug maker Novo Nordisk surpassed Tesla in market worth, after contemporary early trial knowledge confirmed constructive outcomes for its new experimental weight reduction capsule.

Shares of the Danish firm hit a document excessive on Thursday, rallying by as a lot as 8%, after telling buyers {that a} Part I trial of the corporate’s amycretin capsule confirmed 13.1% weight reduction in individuals after 12 weeks.

Novo Nordisk is now the twelfth most beneficial firm on the planet, with a market cap of $604 billion — forward of Tesla’s $569 billion, based on FactSet knowledge.

Shares have been buying and selling barely decrease on Friday, down 0.5%, by 10:00 a.m. London time.

The uptick of Thursday extends a months-long rally for Novo Nordisk, as pleasure grows round weight reduction medication and their potential wider purposes. The corporate is now probably the most worthwhile in Europe, with a valuation bigger than Denmark’s complete gross home product final 12 months.

The early amycretin knowledge marks a contemporary milestone for Novo Nordisk, doubtlessly providing a more practical and fewer intrusive various to its already extensively profitable injection-based Wegovy and Ozempic medication. Wegovy confirmed weight lack of 6% in a 12-week trial, whereas Ozempic is a diabetes therapy.

A Part II trial of amycretin will start within the second half of this 12 months, with outcomes anticipated in early 2026, the corporate mentioned Thursday. The therapy will then be topic to Part III and Part IV trials — a course of which may take years.

Nonetheless Novo’s head of improvement Martin Holst Lange mentioned Friday that he anticipated that the capsule might be accessible to shoppers “inside this decade.”

“I by no means decide to timelines however I might be very comfy to say on the very least inside this decade,” Lange he mentioned, based on Reuters.

The corporate additionally mentioned that it expects amycretin, and its different new experimental weight problems drug CagriSema, to have comparable cardiac advantages to Wegovy.

Earlier on Thursday, Novo Nordisk mentioned that it was increasing its focus to incorporate heart problems remedies, because it seeks to place its providing as greater than a “self-importance” drug.

A big late-stage examine on Tuesday confirmed that Ozempic delayed development of power kidney illness in diabetes sufferers, decreasing the chance of loss of life from that and main cardiac occasions by 24%.

It follows earlier research demonstrating that Wegovy lowered the chance of significant cardiovascular problems in folks with weight problems and coronary heart illness.

Traders have been intently watching the development of weight problems remedies and the underlying appetite-suppressing GLP-1 drug class, for a sign of their wider market implications.

Forward of the newest developments, Barclays forecast in 2023 that the burden loss drug trade might be value as a lot as $200 billion by the tip of the last decade, with its purposes more likely to disrupt sectors properly past well being care.

— CNBC’s Ganesh Rao contributed to this story.