Novo Nordisk shares up on positive weight loss drug trial

(Sharecast News) - Pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk were up double digits early on Friday thanks to positive headline results from early-stage trials into one of its weight loss drugs.

Novo Nordisk said the trial showed that its once-weekly amycretin obesity drug resulted in an average weight reduction of 22% in obese and overweight patients after 36 weeks, compared to a weight gain of 2.0% among patients treated with placebo.

"We are very encouraged by the subcutaneous phase 1b/2a results for amycretin in people living with overweight or obesity," said executive vice president for development Martin Lange.

"The results seen in the trial support the weight lowering potential of this novel unimolecular GLP-1 and amylin receptor agonist, amycretin, that we have previously seen with the oral formulation."

As of 1410 GMT, Novo Nordisk shares were up 12.12% in pre-market trading at $90.93 each.











Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com