Savvy pharma-stock investors know that an oral GLP-1 drug from Novo Nordisk called Rybelsus has been on the market as a diabetes treatment since 2019. It's an orally available version of semaglutide, which is the same active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.

Shares of Eli Lilly soared Thursday morning after the pharmaceutical giant announced a clinical trial of its once-daily weight loss pill, orforglipron, demonstrated effectiveness consistent with other injectable GLP-1 weight loss drugs, such as Lilly’s Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic.

Eli Lilly reported promising results from a study of its experimental oral drug that could rival popular injections to treat obesity and diabetes.