Eli Lilly spikes after FDA approves label change for diabetes drug to reduce cardiovascular death

Eli Lilly (LLY) shares climbed amid a volume spike after the Food and Drug Administration approved a label change for a diabetes drug the company markets with German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim.

The stock gained more than 2 percent as more than 12.2 million shares changed hands, well above its 30-day average volume of 6.9 million shares.

Jardiance had already been approved in 2014 for lowering blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes, but the FDA said that the drug was also "shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death."

^{Source: FactSet}

Risk of cardiovascular death is 70 percent higher in adults with diabetes compared to those without, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is also the leading cause of death among adults with type 2 diabetes, said Jean-Marc Guettier, director of the FDA's Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products.

"Availability of antidiabetes therapies that can help people live longer by reducing the risk of cardiovascular death is an important advance for adults with type 2 diabetes," Guettier said in a statement.

Boehringer Ingelheim CEO Paul Fonteyne said in a statement, "This new indication represents a tremendous step forward in our efforts to reduce the impact of cardiovascular disease among adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease."

Even with Friday's gains, Eli Lilly shares have fallen 19 percent this year.

— CNBC's Meg Tirrell contributed to this report.

More From CNBC

• There's a big week ahead, and what President Trump tells Congress could be a big deal
  

• This ‘conundrum’ may be signaling a slide in oil prices
  

• Live Nation shares dip following its fourth-quarter financial report