• by Tanya Gazdik , March 6, 2024

There’s a new player in the race to the top for weight loss drugs that’s challenging Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

“Biotech company Viking Therapeutics has emerged as a strong potential player — and deal target — in the budding weight loss drug market,” according to CNBC. “Some Wall Street analysts said Viking’s experimental obesity treatment may be 'best-in-class' following the release of midstage trial data.” During that trial, "an injectable version of Viking’s drug appeared to promote even greater weight loss than Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.”

Analysts say the growing market could be worth anywhere from $77 billion to $100 billion by 2030.

It’s important to note Viking Therapeutics isn't yet competing directly in the market for weight loss therapies, as it hasn't gotten its first medicine approved. 

“Nonetheless, per some phase 2 clinical trial data it published on Feb. 27, there is a good chance that will change soon enough,” per The Motley Fool. “In the trial, patients treated with the company's anti-obesity candidate VK2735 for 13 weeks experienced a 14.7% decline in their body mass, whereas patients receiving a placebo saw their weight decline by only 1.7%.”

The stock surged by 137% on the day the results were published.

Earlier this week, the company’s underwritten public offering of 7,441,650 shares of its common stock closed at a price to the public of $85.00 per share, which included the exercise in full by the underwriters of their option to purchase up to 970,650 additional shares of common stock. 

The gross proceeds to Viking from this offering were approximately $632.5 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses, according to a press release posted on Yahoo Finance. 

“Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have dominated the market for new obesity and diabetes drugs, which work by stimulating naturally occurring hormones that regulate blood sugar and suppress appetite,” according toThe Washington Post. “The runaway success of Novo Nor-disk’s Ozempic and Wegovy, and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound, have supercharged the revenue of both companies — and forced them to take extraordinary measures as they try to keep up with patient demand.”

Viking is also working on a pill form of its injectable drug, as are Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.