New York, June 4, 2026, 14:02 EDT
- Veru shares rose $2.53 to $4.78 in afternoon trading, off an earlier high of $7.04.
- Novo Nordisk is set to provide Wegovy to Veru’s Phase 2b PLATEAU obesity trial for free, according to an SEC filing.
- Oppenheimer reiterated its Outperform and $24 price target. Canaccord stayed at Buy with a $25 target.
Veru Inc. shares jumped over 100% Thursday. The small-cap biotech said it’s got a clinical supply deal with Novo Nordisk for its obesity trial. That puts a major drugmaker next to one of the more speculative weight-loss names in the market.
The stock traded up $2.53 to $4.78 in the afternoon, jumping 112% from its previous close. It earlier hit $7.04. Volume was near 69.4 million shares, well above typical levels for the company. Market cap was roughly $76.7 million at that price.
Veru is pushing to show that enobosarm can target weight loss from GLP-1 drugs more precisely. GLP-1 receptor agonists copy a gut hormone tied to blood sugar and appetite, with Novo’s Wegovy (semaglutide) among the class’s leading brands.
Veru disclosed in a June 4 filing that it signed the agreement on June 2. Novo will provide Wegovy at no cost for Veru’s Phase 2b PLATEAU trial. Veru will run and sponsor the study on its own.
Veru is running a trial of oral enobosarm alongside Wegovy in older obese adults already on Wegovy. According to the filing, Veru plans to send Novo details on the study design, any protocol changes, and safety updates.
The filing had a clause investors noticed. Veru keeps worldwide rights to develop and sell enobosarm. But Novo gets a right of first negotiation if Veru later wants to develop, market or license enobosarm with any Novo GLP-1 drug, including Wegovy.
Oppenheimer’s Leland Gershell called the deal “external validation” for Veru’s combo and oral maintenance plans, Investing.com reported. The firm kept its Outperform and $24 target. Investing.com Canada
Canaccord kept its Buy on the stock and stuck with the $25 price target. The firm described the Novo deal as a “significant event” and said enobosarm had “grabbed the attention” of a top obesity company, TipRanks reported, citing The Fly. TipRanks
Veru is staking out a spot in the weight-loss market but isn’t going after the same territory as Wegovy or Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. The company wants to add a drug to help preserve muscle and other lean tissue in older patients who use weight-loss medications. That puts Veru in the GLP-1 space even though it doesn’t have an approved obesity drug yet.
Veru said in May that the PLATEAU trial is enrolling patients, with an interim analysis set for the first quarter of 2027. CEO Mitchell Steiner said the company is “on track for presenting” the interim readout. Veru Inc.
Veru Inc. is running a study set to enroll around 200 patients, all at least 65 and with a BMI of 35 or more, as they begin semaglutide therapy. The main aim is percent change in total body weight at 68 weeks. Other measures are fat mass, lean mass, physical function and bone mineral density.
Louis Aronne, an obesity doctor and scientific adviser to Veru, said in March the next batch of weight-loss drugs will probably feature GLP-1 combos that keep lean mass. He described the PLATEAU study as offering clinical data that could support Phase 3 plans.
Veru’s stock jump Thursday could be outpacing the fundamentals. The company said its PLATEAU trial might not hit endpoints, noted the FDA could push back on later study designs, and warned enrollment might get held up. Novo can walk from the supply deal with 60 days’ notice. Veru also said it will need to secure financing that works for them.
Uncertainty around GLP-1 drug access and reimbursement is still a risk for Veru. Cigna said this week it will stop covering GLP-1 obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound for its employees starting July 1. The move shows that even widely used medicines can get squeezed by payers.
Right now, the stock isn’t moving on revenue—it’s reacting to signals. Novo’s involvement, some free Wegovy supply, and a right of first negotiation pushed traders to reprice Veru quickly. The tougher part is still left to prove in the clinic.
