Viking’s Weight-loss Pill Data Disappoints, Shares Sink

(Reuters) -Viking Therapeutics said Tuesday its experimental weight-loss pill helped patients lose 12.2% of their body weight in a mid-stage trial, missing Wall Street’s top-end expectations of 15% and sending its shares plummeting by 41%.

In the 280-person study of obese and overweight adults, those who received the highest 120-milligram dose of Viking’s drug, VK2735, shed 12.2% of their body weight on average over 13 weeks versus 10.9% for those who received a placebo.

However, about 20% of patients on VK2735 dropped out of the study due to adverse effects, primarily gastrointestinal issues such as vomiting and nausea, compared to 13% in the placebo group.

The company will consider increasing it every four weeks for future studies, rather than every two weeks, to help control the side effects, Viking CEO Brian Lian said.

Oral weight-loss drugs are expected to widen access for patients averse to injections, helping their makers tap into a projected $150 billion market currently dominated by Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.

But so far, oral pills have failed to outperform the injectables in the tight race for these medicines.

Analysts expected Viking’s drug to help lower body weight by 10% to 15%, following an 8.2% average reduction in an early-stage trial.

J.P. Morgan analyst Hardik Parikh said the drug’s profile did not measure up to earlier trials, but said side effects might be manageable with dose adjustments, particularly given the high discontinuation rate in the placebo group.

Shares of Viking had gained 4.6% this year till Monday’s close due to optimism over the obesity pill.

In early August, Lilly’s experimental daily pill, orforglipron, showed a 12.4% weight loss in a late-stage study over 72 weeks. The news wiped off more than $100 billion from the company’s market value on the day.

Separately, Novo’s oral semaglutide has shown a weight-loss of 15% over 68 weeks. Both drugmakers expect to launch their oral drugs by next year.

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Patrick Wingrove and Leroy Leo)