Viking Therapeutics shares soar as small study shows weight-loss injection helps patients shed pounds and keep them off

BlockBeats news, September 23 - Viking Therapeutics Inc. shares surged sharply after the company announced in a small exploratory study that its dual-target obesity injection helped patients achieve weight loss and maintained the weight-loss effect even after reducing the dosing frequency.

The company drew some conclusions based on patient data from the study's extension group. The study was initially designed to determine the most effective dose of the drug, which controls body weight through two different pathways. The result is good news for Viking, whose earlier trials had suffered setbacks. The company said that in the main phase of the trial, patients who received a medium dose weekly had the best results, losing up to 19% of their body weight after about five months. An "exploratory" group of 13 patients continued treatment at a slightly lower dose for an additional three months and lost 22% of their body weight, without reaching a plateau.

Viking said that when patients switched to a lower-frequency dosing regimen (once or twice a month), some were able to maintain 90% to 97% of their weight loss. Side effects were mostly mild and diminished over time, with only one patient stopping treatment due to an adverse event. During low-frequency maintenance dosing, gastrointestinal side effects were comparable to those in the placebo group.

Viking shares rose as much as 36.6% intraday in New York, the largest intraday gain since July 2024, before giving back some of the gains.