Shares of Novo Nordisk surged over 13% in premarket trading Friday, driven by promising topline results from a early-stage trial of amycretin, a new weight-loss drug candidate. If gains hold, this could mark the stock’s best single-day performance since Aug.

The hugely popular medications Ozempic and Wegovy​, used for diabetes and weight loss, will be included in the next round of talks to negotiate lower Medicare drug prices.

Novo Nordisk's blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic and weight-loss treatment Wegovy are among the 15 drugs targeted for Medicare price negotiations for 2027, the U.S. government said on Friday, part of a law pharmaceutical companies have pledged to revisit with the Trump administration.

In other news, Novo Nordisk announced the results from its phase 3b STEP UP semaglutide trial today. Specifically, the company said semaglutide 7.2 milligram (mg) injections over a 72-week period resulted in an average weight loss of 20.7%, better than the 17.5% weight loss achieved in a prior trial of semaglutide 2.4 mg injections.

From Alzheimer's prevention to weight-loss dominance, Novo bets on innovation and share repurchases amid Medicare pressure.

Novo Nordisk is currently leading the market for incretin therapies with semaglutide-based products Ozempic for type 2 diabetes and Wegovy for obesity but is coming under competitive pressure from rival therapies from Eli Lilly based on dual GIP/GLP-1 agonist tirzepatide.

IMMvention and Novo Nordisk form a partnership to co-develop oral therapies for sickle cell disease, focusing on BACH1 inhibitors with potential for other diseases.

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) released topline results from a phase 1b/2a trial with amycretin intended for once-weekly subcutaneous administration. The trial investigated the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics,

Novo sells semaglutide as Ozempic and Rybelsus for diabetes and as Wegovy for obesity. In price talks, CMS will treat the different forms as a single product.

The Biden administration announced Friday that Ozempic, Wegovy and 13 additional drugs will now be covered under Medicare Part-D for price negotiations, the next round of negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act passed by President Joe Biden in 2022.

Meena Seshamani’s Medicare swan song ended on a note of bravura: the announcement that 15 costly drugs, including Novo Nordisk blockbusters Wegovy and Ozempic, are slated for price talks.