Eli Lilly & Co. shares surged after data showed its experimental weight-loss pill worked as well as the Ozempic shot, bringing it one step closer to developing a needle-free alternative to injections.

The trial is one of several that Lilly is running to test the drug, called orforglipron, in diabetes, obesity and other related conditions like sleep apnea. Investors and analysts had expected it to work at least as well as Ozempic, the blockbuster diabetes shot from Novo Nordisk A/S.