Novo exceeds Tesla’s market value on trials of an obesity drug

The market value of Novo Nordisk on Thursday exceeded the market value of Tesla after the Danish manufacturer of the popular weight loss drug Wijovi announced positive data on early trials of a new, long-awaited obesity drug.

According to Reuters, Novo Nordisk shares rose more than 8% to an unprecedented level, raising the company two places to 12th place in the world by market value after it informed investors that phase 1 trials of the tablet version of the drug Amicretin being trialled showed that participants lost 13.1 % of their weight in 12 weeks.

This indicates superiority to the results of the popular obesity drug Wijovi, which indicated a loss of approximately six percent of weight after 12 weeks and 15 percent after 68 weeks.

Novo shares have risen more than three-fold since June 2021, when it launched WeGovy in the United States, and last year it became the highest listed company in Europe as measured by market value, surpassing LVMH.

Data from the London Stock Exchange Group indicate that the company’s market value reached $566 billion on Thursday, ahead of Tesla and Visa.