** Shares in Zealand Pharma ZELA.CO rise 6.6%, on track for their best day since June if gains hold and among top performers on the pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX

** J.P.Morgan initiates the stock at "overweight" based on its obesity drug potential, while Van Lanschot Kempen flags positive updates presented during the 2024 Obesity Week

** JPM says Zealand's amylin therapy, petrelintide, could offer similar weight loss as GLP-1 drugs such as Novo Nordisk's NOVOb.CO Wegovy, but with higher efficacy and tolerability

** Encouraging Phase Ib data has increased the likelihood of Zealand partnering up with a large cap pharmaceutical company, it adds

** JPM also expects strong data from Novo's amylin/GLP-1 combination Phase III data in December, which could provide validation of petrelintide

** Van Lanschot Kempen says Zealand's presented dataset looks "strong" among the amylin-based front

** Novo Nordisk's shares also rise 2.2% on Friday

** The Zealand shares fell around 5% on Thursday after Q3 results, though a Van Lanschot Kempen analyst said there was "nothing out of the ordinary" in the report

(Reporting by Anna Chaberska)

((Anna.chaberska@thomsonreuters.com))