According to trading data, Danish healthcare company Novo Nordisk saw its shares surge this week, boosting its market worth over Denmark’s GDP.
Following news that its highly-popular obesity medicine Wegovy reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes, the drugmaker’s stock rose as much as 19% on Tuesday, the greatest intraday rise on record. According to the study, those with obesity and heart problems who took Wegovy were 20% less likely to have a cardiovascular incident than those who took a placebo.
Following the stock price boom, the company’s market capitalization increased by more than $60 billion to roughly $423 billion, which is larger than the total domestic economy of Denmark. As of the conclusion of the year, the country’s GDP was $390.68 billion.
The surge also lifted Novo Nordisk to second place among the EU’s top corporations in terms of valuation, trailing only the $442 billion-valued LVMH.
Novo Nordisk, which originally focused on diabetic treatments, has been Denmark’s most valuable firm since 2008, when it surpassed container-shipping behemoth A.P. Moller-Maersk. After launching weight-loss medications three years ago, it has attracted investor interest. Since 2020, the company’s stock has tripled.
According to Bloomberg, it is currently worth more than all of the other companies on Denmark’s benchmark index, the OMXC25.
