Here's Why Novo Nordisk Stock Popped Today

Another day and another release of results from a clinical trial from Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO). However, this time it's positive news. Here's the lowdown.

Novo Nordisk trial results

The pharmaceutical company is best known for semaglutide, which is approved to treat Type 2 diabetes (Wegovy) and, most famously, obesity (Wegovy). It's part of an exciting class of drugs, GLP-1 receptor agonists, which includes Eli Lilly's tirzepatide (approved as Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes and Zepbound for obesity).

Yesterday's "bad" news from Novo Nordisk came from its Phase 3 trials of oral semaglutide in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease. The trials did not establish the superior efficacy of oral semaglutide over placebo in the trial. I've used inverted commas because the Alzheimer's trial was always a low probability event – a Novo Nordisk executive had reportedly described it as a lottery, and few people expect to win lotteries.

On a more positive note, Novo Nordisk reported positive results from a Phase 2 trial of its next highly promising GLP-1 receptor agonist, amycretin, in Type 2 diabetes. The trial combined a once-weekly subcutaneous (under the skin) dosage with a once-daily oral form dosage, and resulted in 14.5% weight loss at 36 weeks.

Image source: Getty Images.

For reference, Novo Nordisk is already advancing amycretin into Phase 3 trials for obesity, in both subcutaneous and oral forms. The company is also anticipating Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of oral Wegovy by year's end.

It strikes me that the positive news from the amycretin Phase 2 today is more of an event than the negative news on the semaglutide Phase 3 in Alzheimer's, but the market disagrees, as the stock is still down over the last two days, despite today's recovery.

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