Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) Soars 11.9% on Strong Weight Loss Market Outlook

We recently published 10 Big Names Delivering Outsized Gains. Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was one of the top performers on Wednesday.

Viking Therapeutics grew its share prices by 11.89 percent on Wednesday to finish at $34.34 apiece as investors took heart from comments that the weight loss industry appears larger than visible, sparking robust prospects for its own drug candidate which has a “best-in-class” potential.

In his presentation at an annual conference, CEO Brian Lian said that market interest in the weight loss industry “is probably broader than visible,” noting that more parties are circling around and appearing very intrigued.

Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) is underway with late-stage clinical trials for the oral and injectable versions of its own weight loss drug candidate, VK2735—a dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors.

According to Lian, the first group of the Phase 3 study, called Vanquish-1, was over-enrolled ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, it is targeting to complete enrollment of the Vanquish-2 within the first quarter of the year.

The Phase 3 studies followed the success of the second phase of trial last year. In a study that lasted for 13 weeks, Viking Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) said that it was able to achieve its primary and secondary endpoints, with VK2735 demonstrating statistically significant reductions in mean body weights of patients to up to 14.7 percent without any signs of plateau.

VK2735 also saw encouraging safety and tolerability in the study, with the majority of observed adverse events being reported as mild or moderate. Treatment and study discontinuation rates among VK2735 cohorts were well-balanced compared with placebo.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.