Viking Therapeutics Unveils Monthly Weight-Loss Shot, Rocking Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk

Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) banal rocketed Thursday aft the institution said it's exploring a monthly dose of its weight-loss drug. The quality is simply a stroke to obesity kingpins Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Eli Lilly (LLY).

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The tiny biotech institution besides said it volition accelerate its under-the-skin shot, dubbed VK2735, straight into final-phase investigating pursuing a gathering with the Food and Drug Administration. This indicates an accelerated pathway, Leerink Partners expert Thomas Smith said successful a lawsuit note. Previously, Viking planned for a Phase 2b study.

The quality rocked shares of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. The duo pb the weight-loss drugs marketplace with Zepbound and Wegovy, respectively. But their play shots are facing shortages, meaning competitors person wiggle country to leap into the market.

And Viking is the archetypal to denote a imaginable monthly injection.

"While we find VK2735 to beryllium a imaginable best-in-class injectable compound, a once-monthly formulation whitethorn beryllium a important competitory differentiator for Viking," Maxim Group expert Naz Rahman said successful a report. "Patients are known to beryllium (noncompliant) connected play therapies, frankincense reducing the medication load to once-monthly whitethorn beryllium a highly charismatic proposition."

On the stock market, Viking Therapeutics banal changeable 28.3% to 64.68. Eli Lilly banal mislaid 4.5%, closing astatine 821.51. Novo Nordisk banal fell 2.9% to 127.83.

Viking Therapeutics Stock Makes A Bullish Move

Viking Therapeutics' quality is peculiarly troubling for Eli Lilly stock. Zepbound mimics 2 hormones, GLP-1 and GIP, to amended feelings of satiety and markers of humor sugar. But Zepbound is an injection. Viking is investigating its cause — which uses the aforesaid mechanics — arsenic some a changeable and a pill.

The institution besides announced plans to statesman a 13-week survey of its weight-loss cause opening successful the 4th quarter. This follows "competitive value nonaccomplishment and a cleanable information illustration astatine week four," Leerink's Smith said.

He has an outperform standing connected Viking Therapeutics stock.

"Overall, we expect spot successful Viking Therapeutics shares connected the backmost of (Wednesday's) updates, with a perchance expedited way for (under-the-skin) VK2735 and ongoing dose escalation for oral VK2735 that continues to suggest differentiated safety/tolerability and best-in-class potential," helium said.

The marketplace for oral weight-loss drugs is besides heating up. Pfizer (PFE) precocious announced plans to determination its daily pill, danuglipron, into further testing. Roche (RHHBY) said earlier this period patients who took its weight-loss pill, CT-996, mislaid 6.1% much assemblage value implicit a period that placebo recipients.

Viking Therapeutics banal bounded disconnected its 50-day moving average, MarketSurge shows. Viking banal has a cleanable IBD Digital Relative Strength Rating of 99, putting it successful the starring 1% of each stocks erstwhile it comes to 12-month performance.

Follow Allison Gatlin connected X, the level formerly known arsenic Twitter, astatine @IBD_AGatlin.

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