Novo Nordisk's Shares Rise on New Approvals, Strong Portfolio
Shares of Novo Nordisk NVO have increased 14.1% year to date against the industry’s decline of 0.5%. A number of factors led to the price rise.
Novo Nordisk has a strong presence in the Diabetes care market with one of the broadest diabetes portfolios in the industry. The top line is driven by the strong performance of products such as Victoza (liraglutide).Also, the company’s obesity drug, Saxenda (liraglutide 3 mg), is doing well. The FDA approved Ozempic (semaglutide) once-daily, pre-filled pen to improve glycemic control in type II diabetes patients in December 2017. In January 2020, Ozempic was approved in the United States for cardiovascular (CV) risk reduction in people with type II diabetes and established cardiovascular diseases. Additional label expansions of the drug will further boost sales of the company.
In April 2020, the European Commission (EC) granted marketing authorization to Rybelsus for the treatment of adults with insufficiently, controlled type II diabetes to improve glycaemic control as an adjunct to diet and exercise.
These approvals boost growth prospects of the company.
In addition, the company’s efforts toward developing its pipeline are encouraging.
In January 2020, Novo Nordisk completed the phase II study with insulin icodec (previously named LAI287), a basal insulin intended for once-weekly treatment. Based on the phase II results, the company plans to initiate a phase III study in the second half of 2020. In June, the company announced headline results from the final four phase IIIa studies investigating once-weekly subcutaneous (sc) semaglutide 2.4 mg for weight management. All studies met the primary endpoints.
In June 2020,, Novo Nordisk announced that it will buy AstraZeneca Plc’s AZN spin-off, Corvidia Therapeutics, for an upfront payment of $725 million in cash. With the acquisition, the company seeks to expand its presence across a range of cardiometabolic diseases that are closely linked to Novo Nordisk’s core business within diabetes and obesity.
Corvidia’s leading drug candidate, ziltivekimab, is in mid-stage clinical trials. Ziltivekimab is being evaluated in a phase IIb dose-finding study in patients who have an increased risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and inflammation. Novo Nordisk remains optimistic about ziltivekimab and believes that the candidate has the potential to become a first- and best-in-class treatment to lower the burden of cardiovascular disease in a patient population that is at high risk of major adverse cardiovascular events. Though Novo Nordisk has a strong presence in the diabetes care market, the diabetes market is extremely crowded with players like Sanofi SNY, AstraZeneca and Merck MRK.
Novo Nordisk AS Price
Novo Nordisk AS price | Novo Nordisk AS Quote
Zacks Rank
Novo Nordisk currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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