(Reuters) – Viking Therapeutics shares surged 25% before the bell on Monday after early-stage data from the company’s experimental oral obesity drug showed weight loss and safety above Wall Street expectations.
Patients who received the higher dose 100 milligram version of the oral drug, VK2735, showed an 8.2% reduction in body weight on average after 28 days, compared to 1.4% for placebo.
The drug “drives best weight loss from an oral agent we’ve seen yet,” said Truist analyst Joon Lee.
The results were presented at the ObesityWeek conference in San Antonio, Texas, from Nov. 3 to 6.
At least three analysts said the drug’s tolerability continued to look good, with no discontinuation at the highest dose.
In the study, 6 out of 9 patients who received the highest dose experienced mild nausea and only 1 patient experienced vomiting at that level. None of the patients on the 100 mg dose discontinued the treatment early.
The data reinforces the “best-in-class” potential for VK2735, which has shown compelling weight loss using both oral and under-the-skin versions, a key differentiator compared to rivals, said Leerink analyst Thomas Smith.
Viking’s stock has nearly quadrupled so far this year as the drug developer contends for a slice of the potential $150 billion obesity treatment market dominated by weight-loss drugs such as Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.
Shares of Lilly, which is testing an oral weight-loss pill in late-stage trials, fell 2.3% to $800.15 premarket.
U.S. drugmaker Pfizer is also developing an oral once-a-day experimental obesity pill.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
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