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Viking therapy the corporate’s shares closed greater than 15% higher on Tuesday after the corporate said it had launched an experimental weight loss pill positive results in a small study and can enter the following stage of development later this yr.
The study’s results heighten excitement in regards to the drugmaker’s prospects within the growing weight-loss drug market.
Viking is one in all several small biotech corporations it desires to compete with New Nordisk AND Eli Lilly on this space, which analysts estimate could grow to a $100 billion market by the top of the last decade. Some analysts see Viking as a very strong potential player or a takeover goal for a bigger company.
Based on Tuesday’s results, Viking plans to start phase two testing of its weight loss pill later this yr. The once-daily tablet is an oral version of the corporate’s experimental weight loss shot, which showed encouraging results in an interim trial last month.
Optimism about Viking’s potential out there has sent its shares up 345% this yr.
In the primary phase of the pill study, greater than 40 obese patients were followed for a few month. These people took different doses of the drug or received a placebo.
Viking found that patients who received the once-daily pill lost a mean of as much as 5.3% of their body weight after 28 days, or as much as 3.3% greater than patients who took a placebo.
As many as 57% of patients who took the Viking pill lost a minimum of 5% of their body weight. Meanwhile, no one that took the placebo lost that much weight, the corporate claims.
Notably, in individuals who received higher doses of the experimental pill, weight loss was maintained or worsened after 34 days of the study, six days after taking the last dose of the drug. Weight loss in these patients was as much as 3.6% greater in comparison with patients who received placebo.
Viking CEO Brian Lian said during a conference call Tuesday that it’s unclear “how sustainable” the weight loss is. However, he noted that the sustained weight loss seen within the study could also be encouraging for patients who may miss a dose on account of travel or lack of access to medications.
“I think it’s an encouraging sign that you don’t necessarily have to take it every day,” he said.
In its announcement, Viking said it believes that treating patients for longer than 28 days can provide “further weight loss.”
The company also said the study showed the pill was secure and tolerable to take.
Most of the uncomfortable side effects that patients experienced after starting oral medication were mild.
Most of the gastrointestinal events that occurred in patients were mild. Gastrointestinal uncomfortable side effects reminiscent of nausea and vomiting are commonly observed with all diabetes treatments and weight loss treatments.
However, individuals who received the Viking pill didn’t report vomiting. The company said that patients who took the placebo also reported diarrhea more often than patients treated with the oral drug.
Analysts compared Viking’s weight-loss shot to Eli Lilly’s Zepbound because each drugs imitate two naturally produced gut hormones called GLP-1 and GIP.
GLP-1 helps reduce food intake and appetite. GIP, which also suppresses appetite, can also improve the best way the body breaks down sugar and fat.
Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk Wegovy weight loss shot targets only GLP-1.
