Investing.com -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) shares trended higher after the drug maker said regulators had approved its Jardiance Type 2 diabetes treatment for children aged 10 and up.
Shares rose 0.2% and are up 23.9% so far this year.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the use after a study showed patients age 10 to 17 achieved lower blood sugar levels than with a placebo. The approval was for Jardiance and Synjardy, for Eli Lilly and its partner Boehringer Ingelheim.
The approvals give more options for oral drug treatments. Metformin, the only other oral drug available for the treatment of children with type 2 diabetes, was initially approved for pediatric use in 2000. Jardiance and Synjardy were approved by the FDA in 2014 and 2015, respectively, to treat Type 2 diabetes in adults.
UBS and BofA Securities recently raised their ratings on Lilly stock to buy. Analysts are awaiting details about Lilly's hotly anticipated Mounjaro, one of a new group of Type 2 diabetes drugs that have been shown to be effective in fighting obesity. Executives are expected to talk about Mounjaro at this weekend's American Diabetes Association conference.