Novo Nordisk Gains as Ozempic Found To Lower Dementia Rates

Nisha Gopalan
Updated 1 min read
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<p>Christian Schultz / picture alliance / Getty Images</p>

Christian Schultz / picture alliance / Getty Images

  • American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Novo Nordisk rose in intraday trading Friday after an Oxford study showed the Danish company’s Ozempic diabetes drug was linked to lower rates of dementia.

  • The drug also has been linked to a reduction in a range of mental problems, according to an article in The Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine journal.

  • The study is the latest to show that semaglutide, the active ingredient in both Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and its obesity medicine Wegovy, can treat more than diabetes or weight loss,

American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Novo Nordisk (NVO) rose in intraday trading Friday after the release of an Oxford study that showed the Danish company’s Ozempic diabetes drug was linked to lower rates of dementia and a range of mental problems.

The researchers said in The Lancet’s eClinicalMedicine journal that patients had a 48% lower risk of dementia after a year on Ozempic versus those who had taken an older drug, sitagliptin.

The study is the latest to show that semaglutide, the active ingredient in both Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and its obesity medicine Wegovy, can treat more than diabetes or weight loss. The firm has been seeking to expand the uses of its blockbuster treatments, including whether it can reduce alcohol intake and treat alcoholic liver disease, Bloomberg noted.

Novo Nordisk ADRs were up 2.6% to $143.39 as of 11 a.m. ET, bringing their year-to-date gain to roughly 40%. Shares of Eli Lilly (LLY), which manufactures rival medications Mounjaro and Zepbound, also have taken off amid soaring sales of weight-loss drugs, adding 62% year-to-date.

Read the original article on Investopedia.

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