The company's stock surged over 10% following news that its latest weight loss drug could be more powerful than Ozempic and Wegovy
Novo Nordisk stock surged Thursday morning, reaching an all-time high and surpassing Tesla $TSLA’s market capitalization. The Denmark-based pharmaceutical giant known for its diabetes and weight loss drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, is now the world’s 12th most valuable company by market cap.
Its stock price shot up 10% this morning to about $137 after the company announced early clinical trial data showing that one of its weight loss drugs in development could be more effective than Wegovy.
The move resulted in Novo Nordisk’s market cap reaching $603 billion, beating Tesla’s market cap of $567 billion by almost $40 billion.
The company announced today at an investor event that its upcoming pill, Amycretin, helped users lose an average of 13% of body weight after 12 weeks, according to an early stage trial. In comparison, patients on Wegovy and Ozempic, both of which are injections, lose about 6% of their weight in 12 weeks.
The company also said it was working to expand beyond diabetes and obesity medication and start developing treatments for cardiovascular diseases. A recent study found that Wegovy reduced the risk of serious heart problems by 20%.
Booming sales for Wegovy and Ozempic could lead to Novo Nordisk becoming one of the first pharma companies to reach a market cap of $1 trillion, according to Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. Only seven companies in the world — including Apple $AAPL, Microsoft $MSFT, and Nvidia $NVDA — have market caps over $1 trillion.
Last year, demand for weight loss drugs helped Novo Nordisk surpass luxury conglomerate LVMH as the most valuable company in Europe. The company reported in January that its 2023 sales jumped 31% to 232.3 billion Danish kroner ($33.8 billion), compared with 177 billion Danish kroner ($25 billion) in 2022. It also projects sales will increase by up to 26% in 2024.
Sales for these drugs have been so strong that they even boosted Denmark’s GDP.
Join 500,000+ readers who start their day with Quartz.
By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
