Viking Therapeutics released results of an experimental drug that showed even better weight loss than current market-leading drugs, a sign that the dominance of Ozempic and Mounjaro is far from assured.
Viking said Tuesday that a mid-stage study showed that obese or overweight patients who received the highest dose of the drug lost an average of about 14.7 percent of their body weight after 13 weeks of once-weekly injections – 13 percent more weight loss than in a placebo group. This weight loss is even steeper during this time than with Eli Lilly's tirzepatide and Novo Nordisk's semaglutide.
The news sent Viking's stock price up more than 70 percent in early trading on Tuesday, giving the company a market value of nearly $7 billion. The company's share price has more than tripled so far this year.
Viking's apparent success could take some of the shine off Eli Lilly if it gains a global partner to develop the drug, David Risinger, an analyst at Leerink Partners, said in a research note on Tuesday. Still, he noted, it remains to be seen whether Viking can reproduce its results in late-stage trials required for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk dominate the market for new obesity and diabetes drugs that work by stimulating naturally occurring hormones that regulate blood sugar and suppress appetite. The overwhelming success of Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, as well as Eli Lilly's Mounjaro and Zepbound, has boosted both companies' sales—and forced them to take extraordinary measures to keep up with patient demand.
Although Viking is much smaller and less well-known, it has been wowing investors for a year with its drug VK2735, which acts on two receptors like Eli Lilly's tirzepatide. Viking reported that patients in its study experienced adverse events such as nausea and vomiting, but said the cases were mild to moderate. One patient suffered from severe dehydration, the company said.
Viking CEO Brian Lian said in a statement that patients taking the drug continued to lose weight after 13 weeks, “suggesting that further weight loss could be achieved through longer periods of use.”
Viking, like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, is working on a pill form of its injectable drug.