Novo Nordisk's stock ( NVO ) rose more than 8% in Friday trading on news that the company's latest weight-loss product delivered favorable results.

The new drug, amycretin, similar to the company's blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, provided weight loss of up to 22% in early-stage clinical trials.

The company tested the once-weekly injection on 125 people for up to 36 weeks with incremental increases in dosage. The highest dose, 20 mg, provided the highest weight loss. Novo is also testing a pill with the same formula, which had disappointing results in early-stage trials late last year that raised questions about the severity of its side effects.

Those questions lingered Friday and brought the company's stock down slightly after initial results saw the stock up more than 12% in premarket trading.

"The new findings should help boost shares considerably given months of underperformance amid a growing view that the Company’s obesity pipeline was drying up," Mizuho's healthcare expert Jared Holz wrote in a note to clients Friday. "Although the oral version of this mechanism failed to impress investors late last year, this sub-cu version could wind up as one of the leading therapies for obesity if efficacy and safety results are consistent in later stage trials which should commence soon."

Amycretin could give Novo a buzzy product in a newly competitive obesity market. It works similarly to existing GLP-1 products by mimicking a hormone in the body that provides a satiated feeling, which curbs hunger, but adds a different hormone in the pancreas.

Similar to existing products, side effects included mild to moderate "gastrointestinal" issues, such as vomiting and nausea.

The company disappointed with a previous product, CagriSema, which delivered similar results but is partly based on semaglutide, the same active ingredient as Ozempic and Wegovy.

Novo is now planning further trials in adults with obesity. While promising, the early-stage trial results need to be further proved in a larger phase III trial.

"We are very encouraged by the subcutaneous phase 1b/2a results for amycretin in people living with overweight or obesity,” Martin Lange, executive vice president for development at Novo Nordisk, said in a statement Friday.

“The results seen in the trial support the weight lowering potential of this novel unimolecular GLP-1 and amylin receptor agonist, amycretin, that we have previously seen with the oral formulation," Lange said.

Anjalee Khemlani is the senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharma, insurance, care services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and politics. That includes GLP-1s, of course. Follow Anjalee on social media platforms X, LinkedIn, and Bluesky @AnjKhem .