Key Takeaways
- Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk shares lost ground Thursday, while shares of Viking Therapeutics soared after the company reported advances in trials of its weight-loss drugs.
- The progress of Viking’s weight-loss drugs could challenge the dominance of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro.
- Surging demand for weight-loss drugs has helped boost the earnings and stock prices of drugmakers like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk over the last year.
Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO) shares lost ground, while shares of drugmaker Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) soared in intraday trading Thursday after the company reported advances in trials of its weight-loss drugs that could challenge the dominance of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro.
Viking Therapeutics said in its second-quarter earnings report Wednesday that the injectable and oral versions of its weight-loss drugs are expected to progress to further stages of trials in the second half of the year.
Weigh-Loss Drug Progress Provides Latest Boost to Viking Stock
The latest phase 2 study for the injectable version of Viking’s weight-loss drug showed some patients lost up to 15% of their baseline body weight over the course of a 13-week treatment period, Viking said. The company also said it expects to schedule a meeting with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the study later this year, and organize a phase 3 trial following the meeting.
In a phase 1 trial for the oral version of the drug, patients lost up to just over 5% of their baseline body weight over a 28-day course of daily doses. Viking said it plans to schedule a phase 2 test for the oral version later this year.
The news sent shares of Viking up over 33% to $67.46 as of 1 p.m. ET Thursday, in the stock’s latest boost from weight-loss drugs. The stock more than doubled in a single day in February following the results of a previous trial, and rose nearly 17% in one session in March after Viking disclosed the results of the first oral drug trial. Shares of Viking have more than tripled in value since the start of the year.
Meanwhile, while shares of competing weight-loss drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk fell Thursday. Surging demand for weight-loss drugs like Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy has boosted both the revenue and stock prices of the companies in recent quarters, with both working to increase production to be able to meet the demand.