DENVER, Colo. (247marketnews.com) -- The obesity-drug race is moving beyond simply losing weight. The next battleground may be how patients keep it off and Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) just produced data that could put that question squarely in the spotlight.
Viking announced positive topline results from its approximately 180-patient VK2735 maintenance study, testing what happened when patients who had spent 21 weeks on weekly treatment were transitioned to less-frequent dosing. The headline numbers are striking: patients switched to every-other-week VK2735 maintained up to 97% of their prior weight loss, while monthly regimens maintained up to 90% over the following 12 weeks. By comparison, the placebo-transition group maintained 61% of its prior weight loss.
The study also adds another eye-catching data point. In an exploratory group that remained on 17.5 mg weekly, patients reached approximately 21.7% mean weight loss from baseline by Week 33, with Viking reporting that weight loss remained progressive and showed no plateau during the study period.
Viking CEO Brian Lian, Ph.D., called the findings evidence of VK2735's “unique and differentiated half-life and PK profile,” saying the results could support “novel, extended dosing approaches” for maintenance. Obesity specialist Louis Aronne, M.D., likewise said the findings provide “a basis for improved dosing flexibility” for physicians and patients.
That flexibility could matter enormously in an increasingly crowded obesity market, which reportedly could reach $100 billion annually within the next decade, as pharmaceutical companies race to develop more effective, convenient and differentiated treatments.
Viking isn't betting on a single format. VK2735 is being developed as both a subcutaneous injection and an oral tablet. Earlier Phase 2 data for the oral formulation showed up to 12.2% mean weight loss after 13 weeks, with up to 80% of treated participants achieving at least 10% weight loss.
The next chapters are already taking shape. Viking says its Phase 3 VANQUISH-1 and VANQUISH-2 trials of injectable VK2735 are fully enrolled, while Phase 3 development of the oral formulation is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026.
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