Tuesday’s surge in Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) shares comes after the company announced plans to initiate further trials on an extended-release variant of its obesity remover pill that will require only one dose each month. This bombshell sent shockwaves through the top players in the obesity business including Eli Lilly & Co’s LLY and Novo Nordisk A/S NVO.
The tiny biotech firm also announced that it will hasten its under-the-skin shot called VK2735 directly into the late-stage tests after consulting with the Food and Drug Administration. This means a quicker path, according to Leerink Partners analyst Thomas Smith in a note to clients. Before, Viking had envisaged conducting a Phase 2b study. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk shares were rocked by this news. They are the leaders in the market for weight-loss drugs with Zepbound and Wegovy, respectively. But their weekly shots are facing supply shortages leaving space for other competitors to enter the market place. And Viking is the first one to inform about possible monthly injection.
“VK2735 could be the greatest injectable medication according to us but it seems like, a preparation that is injected once monthly may be very distinct from its competitors as far as Viking is concerned,” Maxim Group analyst Naz Rahman said in his report. “Since it has been reported that patients are often noncompliant with weekly treatments, it would thus make very sense to lessen the administrative load to one administration per month.”
On the eve of closing on the stock market, Viking Therapeutics stocks gained by 28.3% reaching up to 64.68 while Eli Lilly stocks shed by 4.5% with their closing price at 821.51. Furthermore, Novo Nordisk share prices dropped by 2.9 % landing at 127.83 respectively.
Analysts foretell that the pharmaceutical is approaching market for GLP-1s more closely as by the year 2030; this market could grow into a worth of about one hundred and fifty billion U. S. dollars in size according to some estimations.
Movements of Viking Therapetic Stocks Increasingly look Favorable
Eli Lilly shares could be impacted by news from Viking Therapeutics whose Zepbound mimics two hormones GLP -1 & GIP promoting the feelings of satiety and blood sugar levels but comes as an injection while Viking is testing its medication via injection and in tablet form using the same mechanism. In addition, this company announced that it will initiate a 13-week trial for weight loss products in fourth quarter starting from April 2020 based on “weight loss during the first four week with clear safety profile”, as stated by Leerink’s Smith. He rates Viking Therapeutics stock as outperforming.
Overall, he said that looking for increase in Viking Therapeutics shares on the back of (Wednesday’s) updates are expected to lead to a possibly speedy direction for (under-the-skin) VK2735 and ongoing dose escalation for oral VK2735 which continue to indicate differential safety/tolerability and best-in-class potential. The demand for oral weight loss drugs is also on the increase. Recently, Pfizer (PFE) revealed plans to proceed with further tests of its daily pill danuglipron. Earlier this month, Roche (RHHBY) stated that patients who took CT-996, its weight loss drug lost about 6.1% more body weights than those receiving placebo drugs within a month.
According to MarketSurge, Viking Therapeutics shares have bounced away from the average of their last 50 days’ prices. The stock has an IBD Digital Relative Strength Rating of 99, which makes it sit within 1% of other stocks in terms of twelve month performance.
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