Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (VKTX) Advances Obesity Drug Development and Expands Metabolic Disease Pipeline

Company Overview - Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) is a clinical-stage biopharma company focused on developing drugs for metabolic and endocrine diseases, particularly obesity, fatty liver (MASH), and rare conditions [4]. Drug Development Milestone - On January 12, Viking Therapeutics announced a significant milestone in the development of its obesity drug VK2735, which has shown promising results in clinical trials [1]. - Data published in the peer-reviewed journal Obesity indicated that VK2735 achieved a weight loss of 14.7% from baseline after 13 weeks of treatment, with no plateau observed [2]. Clinical Trial Progress - The clinical trial for VK2735 met both primary and secondary endpoints, leading to its evaluation in the Phase 3 VANQUISH-1 trial, which has already enrolled approximately 4,650 patients [2][3]. - CEO Brian Lian emphasized the potential of VK2735 as a best-in-class dual GLP-1/GIP agonist, which is central to the ongoing Phase 3 program [3]. Market Potential - The obesity drug market is estimated to be worth $150 billion, and there is strong interest from drug makers to tap into this potential [3].