The move: Eli Lilly stock soared as much as 15% on Thursday to $843.19.

Why: The gains came after Eli Lilly announced positive phase 3 trial data for Orforglipron, the pill form of its GLP-1 weight loss drug.

The data showed that the once-daily pill reduced patients’ weight by an average of 16 pounds, or about 8% of their body weight, and lowered their A1C by an average of 1.3% to 1.6%.

The pill form is in line with injectable GLP-1 drugs, like Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic.

The positive data gives the company the green light to file the drug with the FDA for approval. The company expects those regulatory filings to happen by the end of the year for obesity, and in 2026 for diabetes.

What it means: Current GLP-1 weight loss drugs, including Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, are administered via a once-per-week injection.

A pill form of the drug could greatly expand access to patients who are afraid of needles. It could also significantly lower the cost of the drug compared to the injectables, as advanced manufacturing processes are required to produce the injectable GLP-1 drugs in their current form.

JPMorgan said the data for Orforglipron is exceptional, noting that side effects appear minimal given just an 8% discontinuation rate on the highest dose, and that Eli Lilly did not make any reference to incremental safety concerns in its announcement.

“We continue to see oral GLP-1s as the biggest factor in alleviating global capacity constraints & increasing accessibility of GLP-1’s, particularly in international markets,” analysts at JPMorgan said.

They continued: “With a full-scale launch anticipated, we anticipate a steep ramp in sales for the asset and continue to see upside to both near- and long-term LLY sales estimates.”