尽管如此，Viking即将发布的VK2735数据才是分析师关注的重点。Viking Therapeutics surged on Thursday, as Wall Street is hopeful about the latest progress of its obesity candidate drug VK2735, and the company announced better-than-expected financial data for the third quarter.
According to Cnstock News, Viking Therapeutics (VKTX.US) soared on Thursday, as Wall Street is hopeful about the latest progress of its obesity candidate drug VK2735, and the company announced better-than-expected financial data for the third quarter. As of Thursday's close, the stock rose approximately 21%, reaching a five-month high.
According to the financial report, Viking improved its liquidity in the third quarter, with cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments totaling 0.93 billion dollars as of September 30, higher than the end of 2023 at 0.362 billion dollars, with a loss per share of 22 cents, better than the market's expected loss of 24 cents and the loss of 23 cents in the same period last year.
However, the focus of analysts is on the upcoming VK2735 data from Viking.
The company stated that VK2735 (a GLP-1/GIP dual receptor agonist similar to Eli Lilly's blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound) is currently awaiting feedback from an FDA meeting this year, and still has the potential to enter the later stages of development.
Earlier this year, Viking achieved positive results in an injectable mid-stage trial of VK2735 called VENTURE. The 13-week data from this trial has been selected for presentation at the American Obesity Association Annual Meeting in early November, also known as American Obesity Week.
Viking plans to share additional data on the oral VK2735 in healthy adults at the same event from November 3 to 6.
CEO Brian Lian stated, "Next, we plan to initiate a 13-week Phase II obesity study later this year." He added, "With the start of the trial, we will provide details on the study design."
Wall Street is optimistic about the potential of VK2735 to challenge veteran companies novo-nordisk a/s (NVO.US) and eli lilly and co (LLY.US) in the weight loss drug market.
In September, jpmorgan released a report, initiating coverage on Viking for the first time with a "buy" rating, stating that due to the upcoming data, the stock is included in the positive catalyst watchlist.
Meanwhile, Oppenheimer analyst Jay Olson also gave a similar rating: "We expect Viking to focus on conducting oral Ph2 and subQ Ph3 studies after the second-phase end-of-study meeting later this year. We look forward to more details on the study design."
