Amgen Stock Surges on Weight-Loss Drug Update
41 minutes ago
Amgen (AMGN) shares soared in early trading Friday after the biopharmaceutical giant posted quarterly earnings that came in ahead of Wall Street expectations and provided a positive update about trials of its injectable weight-loss drug MariTide.
The stock was up 12.5% at $313.06 about 15 minutes after the opening bell, accounting for a significant portion of the Dow’s early gains.
The company announced it would give up pursuit of an oral weight-loss pill AMG786, instead focusing its resources on the development of its highly anticipated injectable MariTide. CEO Robert Bradway told analysts on the company’s earnings call that the drugmaker had completed interim analysis of the phase two study and were very encouraged with the results so far.
The company said it expects more complete data from MariTide’s phase two studies toward the end of the year, adding that plans for a comprehensive phase three program remain on schedule. If approved, Amgen aims to offer MariTide via a convenient, auto-injector device at a monthly or less frequent intervals.
MariTide could compete with highly successful weight-loss drugs Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound manufactured by pharmaceutical giants Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Eli Lilly (LLY) in a market some analysts see reaching $100 billion by 2030.
Investors should keep an eye on the $330 level, an area where the stock may encounter overhead resistance from its all-time high (ATH) set in early February. A convincing breakout above this closely-watched level would likely see the stock’s longer-term uptrend continue.
–Timothy Smith
Stock Futures Rise Ahead of Jobs Report
2 hr 3 min ago
Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.7% in premarket trading Friday.
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S&P 500 futures were up 0.4%.
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Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.6% minutes ahead of the jobs data.
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