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Viking Therapeutics VKTX+1.59% is one of several pharma companies racing to break up the weight loss drug duopoly currently held by Ozempic-maker Novo Nordisk NVO+2.53% and Eli Lilly LLY+0.06%, the producer of Zepbound.
With both an injection and weight loss pill in development, investors are taking notice of the up and coming biotech company.
“We all know what Eli Lilly LLY+0.06% and what [Novo Nordisk NVO+2.53% have] done,” RSE Ventures CEO Matt Higgins told Yahoo Finance on Sunday. “But it’s a massive TAM [total addressable market]. It’s a $150 billion market. And [Viking] is a biotechnology firm ... and they are onto something pretty amazing. They are working on two products: One is a shot that you would take once a month, and the other is a pill, which is the holy grail and early studies show that it’s being very well tolerated.”
Higgins isn’t the only investor to bet on Viking. The company’s stock is up over 250% since the start of the year.
This summer, Viking said it was advancing its experimental weight loss drug to a late-stage clinical trial, bringing closer to market.
The pharma company said in July that after receiving written responses from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it plans to advance its weekly injection VK2735 into a phase 3 trial.
An earlier, smaller trial found that VK2735 helped users achieve an average weight loss of 14% from baseline numbers, plus 13% compared with a placebo after 13 weeks of treatment.
Viking is set to meet with the FDA later this year to go over its phase 2 trial, and details and timing of its upcoming phase 3 trial will be disclosed after that meeting.
William Blair analysts, led by Andy Hsieh, said in a note in July that they expect the phase 3 trial to start in early 2025 — just three years after Viking started its phase 1 trial for the weight loss drug. The investment bank commended Viking for the speed at which they’re developing VK2735.
Previously, Viking said it also plans to test the weight loss injection in monthly doses.
“In the context of continued supply constraints for the GLP-1 drug class, we believe the ability to reduce dosing frequency could provide a key differentiator from competitive programs,” Hsieh wrote.
However, Hsieh added that value VK2735 “ will ultimately be maximized in the hands of a big pharma, which could best navigate the rebate/discount-driven reimbursement landscape.”
Higgins told Yahoo that a deal, which he estimates could be valued at $15 billion, would further boost Viking stock.
Viking is also planning a phase 2 trial of an oral version of VK2735 for the fourth quarter of this year. A previous small clinical study found that patients taking a daily 40mg dose of Viking’s weight loss pill lost an average of up to 5.3% of their body weight in just 28 days.