Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) saw a dramatic rise in its stock price on Thursday after announcing progress in clinical trials for its weight-loss drugs, which could potentially challenge the market dominance of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro. In contrast, shares of Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO) experienced declines amid the news.
Viking Therapeutics reported in its second-quarter earnings update that both injectable and oral versions of its weight-loss drugs are advancing to later stages of clinical trials in the latter half of the year. The company revealed that its phase 2 trial for the injectable version demonstrated promising results, with some patients losing up to 15% of their baseline body weight over 13 weeks. Viking is planning a meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to discuss these results and to organize a phase 3 trial subsequently.
For the oral version, a phase 1 trial indicated that patients lost over 5% of their baseline body weight over a 28-day period. Viking intends to initiate a phase 2 trial for this formulation later this year.
The positive trial results propelled Viking’s stock up by over 33% to $67.46 as of 1 p.m. ET Thursday. This surge follows previous significant gains, including a more than doubling of the stock price in February after earlier trial results and a nearly 17% increase in March following the announcement of the first oral drug trial outcomes. Viking’s shares have more than tripled in value since the beginning of 2024.
In contrast, shares of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk fell on Thursday. Both companies have benefited from strong demand for their weight-loss drugs—Mounjaro and Wegovy, respectively—which have significantly boosted their revenues and stock prices in recent quarters. Both firms are actively working to ramp up production to meet the soaring demand.
