FRANKFURT/KOPENHAGEN/NEW YORK (dpa-AFX) - FMC shares jumped on Friday afternoon following news about Novo Nordisk's drug Ozempic. FMC recently gained 7.5 percent at the top of the MDax.

According to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine, the diabetes drug Ozempic from Novo Nordisk can drastically reduce the risk of death in patients with kidney disease triggered by diabetes. For the dialysis provider FMC, this in turn means that patients are dependent on dialysis treatments for longer and more money is earned.

The shares of FMC's competitor Davita also benefited from the news: They rose by more than two percent in pre-morning US trading.

Fresenius gained 2.8 percent in the DAX. Fresenius still holds just over 30 percent of FMC. Shares in Novo Nordisk, meanwhile, fell by just over half a percent in Copenhagen after reaching a record high just the day before./ajx/ag/jha/