Viking Therapeutics Surges Up to 36% After VK2735 Maintains Most Weight Loss With Less-Frequent Dosing

Viking Therapeutics reported positive top-line results from a maintenance dosing study of VK2735, its dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist for obesity, sending shares surging as much as 36% on September 22 and making it one of the most active pre-market names with over 1.45 million shares traded before the open.

In the study, patients who had lost roughly 16% to 19% of body weight over 21 weeks of weekly injections retained up to 97% of that loss after switching to every-other-week dosing over a subsequent 12-week maintenance period, and up to 90% of prior weight loss with monthly dosing. Gastrointestinal side effects during the maintenance phase were comparable to placebo, and discontinuation rates remained low.

An exploratory group that continued weekly dosing at 17.5 mg reached approximately 22% total weight loss by week 33, with no plateau observed, a result Reuters highlighted as the headline figure from the study. Viking said it plans to evaluate oral maintenance dosing as a next step. VK2735 is already in Phase 3 development for obesity.

The stock's move weighed on rivals, with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk falling on the session. Barron's noted that Viking and Roche are among the companies developing drugs that could challenge the two incumbents' dominance in the obesity and diabetes market.