(News Bulletin 247) – The pharmaceutical laboratory now weighs nearly 430 billion dollars on the stock market and is getting closer to LVMH, which is currently the largest listed European company.

Novo Nordisk is European value in great shape. The Danish pharmaceutical company saw its price rise sharply on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange on Tuesday, after the publication of a positive clinical study for Wegovy, its treatment against obesity.

The preliminary results of the SELECT study show that this treatment reduces by 20% compared to the placebo, the cardiovascular risks, such as a heart attack or stroke in overweight or obese people. This study, initiated in 2018, was conducted among 17,604 adults aged 45 or over, suffering from overweight or obesity and established cardiovascular disease, without a history of diabetes.

“People with obesity have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but to date there are no approved weight management drugs that are able to effectively manage weight while reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death, which is why we are very pleased with the results of the SELECT study, said Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president of development at Novo Nordisk.

The dolphin of LVMH on the stock market

Novo Nordisk therefore scores points in the war between pharmaceutical laboratories to capture this colossal market for treatments against obesity. Since 1975, the number of cases of obesity has almost tripled worldwide, according to the WHO. The market also welcomes this discovery, the title Novo Nordisk jumped 17% Tuesday on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, bringing its gains to 33% since the beginning of the year.

This progression of the title pushed the capitalization of Novo Nordisk to nearly 430 billion dollars. The stock market weight of the Nordic group is now greater than the combined value of all the other companies in the Danish benchmark index, the OMXC25, recalls Bloomberg.

Above all, the Danish group is in the running to take the crown from LVMH, which is currently the largest listed group in Europe, with a capitalization of 445 billion dollars, according to data from the Companiesmarketcap.com site. The luxury giant, which had crossed the symbolic threshold of 500 billion dollars in market capitalization in April, has since lost some fuel with fears about the recovery of the Chinese economy.