Why Novo Nordisk Stock Popped Again Today

Key Points

• Novo Nordisk's Wegovy will soon come in a pill form that's as effective as with a needle.

• A new study shows Wegovy taken once a day as a pill helps some patients lose 20% of their body weight.

• Pills rather than needles are another big plus that may help grow Novo Nordisk sales.

• 10 stocks we like better than Novo Nordisk ›

Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) -- the original Ozempic stock -- jumped higher again Thursday after announcing results from a weight loss study that had patients taking its Wegovy GLP-1 weight loss drug orally instead of via injection.

Novo Nordisk stock is up 6.5% through 12:25 p.m. ET.

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Weight loss in pill form

When injected, Wegovy doses generally run 1.7 mg or 2.4 mg in strength. In the oral study, Novo Nordisk administered once-a-day doses of Wegovy in pill form over 64 weeks -- at 25 mg.

And no, I didn't misplace a decimal there. When ingested instead of injected, much higher doses of semaglutide are required to get the same effect as in an injection, because so much of the ingested medicine is metabolized when passing through the liver before it can "do its job," so to speak.

Be that as it may, the higher dosages do clearly do their job. Indeed, 25 mg doses were found to help patients lose an average of 16.6% of their body weight over the course of the Novo Nordisk study. One patient in three managed to lose much more -- 20% of body weight.

Commenting on the results, Novo Nordisk chief scientific officer Martin Holst Lange pointed out that the weight loss numbers were comparable to what's achievable through injection -- no needles required.

Is Novo Nordisk stock a buy?

That's almost certain to make Wegovy more attractive to more potential consumers, boosting sales and profits for Novo Nordisk -- and it will need to. Priced at nearly 15x earnings now, paying less than a 3% dividend, and pegged for only an 8% growth rate over the next five years, Novo Nordisk stock is no longer the obvious bargain it once was.

More customer demand and a faster growth rate are exactly what Novo Nordisk needs to make this stock a buy again.

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Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Novo Nordisk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.