Shares of Furiex Pharmaceuticals have surged 64 percent since the Morrisville company's Japanese partner won U.S. approval for a trio of diabetes drugs Friday.

Furiex shares were trading at $34.94 a share Monday afternoon, up $13.70 a share, the biggest gain since Furiex became a standalone company in 2010. The approval of Nesina, Oseni and Kazano represents the first revenue opportunity for Furiex in the U.S. market.

The 24-employee company said Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved three treatments for type 2 diabetes for Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Under its agreement with Takeda, Furiex is entitled to receive a $25 million milestone payment as a result of the FDA approval as well as royalties on U.S. sales of the drugs.

Furiex is also receiving royalty payments from Takeda for the sale of two medications in Japan.

Furiex Pharmaceuticals, which saw its stock drop 23 pertcent in a single day last week after a drug it is developing with a partner failed to win U.S. regulatory approval, reported a narrower net loss in the first quarter.

The Morrisville company reported Thursday a loss of $9.8 million, or 98 cents per share, compared to $14.4 million, or $1.45 per share, in the first quarter of 2011.

Revenue from royalties totaled $2.6 million, compared to $400,000 in the first quarter of 2011.

The company's research and development expenditures declined from $12.9 million to $9.4 million. Furiex attributed the decline to completion of Phase 2 trials for its drug candidates, JNJ-Q2 and MuDelta.

MuDelta is being developed to treat irritable bowel syndrome. JNJ-Q2 has been studied as both a treatment for acute skin infections and for bacterial pneumonia.