Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) stock crashed more than 40% in early trading on Tuesday after a phase 2 trial of its weight-loss pill showed a high patient dropout rate.
The company stated that most of the adverse treatment-related symptoms were gastrointestinal in nature, and 99% of the adverse events were mild. Over half (58%) of participants taking the drug reported nausea, compared with 48% for placebo, and a quarter of patients reported vomiting.
The obesity treatment showed some promising results: After 13 weeks of once-daily dosing, patients lost 12.2% of their body weight (26.6 lbs on average), compared with a 1.3% loss (2.9 lbs) for the placebo. However, 28% of patients discontinued the treatment before the trial was completed.
Viking’s oral obesity drug, VK2735, aims to compete with Eli Lilly’s drug, orforglipron, which revealed results from its phase 3 trials earlier this month.
Eli Lilly’s results earlier this month showed patients taking its treatment had a weight-loss rate of 12.4% (27.3 lbs) after 72 weeks. Analysts similarly noted that Eli Lilly’s pill had a high patient dropout rate — 25% at the highest dose — and the stock dropped 14% in one day following the results.
However, Viking Therapeutic’s update may be casting a new light on Eli Lilly’s late-stage trials as the race to develop a weight-loss pill heats up.
“Data look inferior to LLY on almost all metrics and the thing to consider here is that patients discontinued at such a high rate over 13-weeks vs. LLY in the mid 20% range — but over 72-weeks,” Mizuho analyst Jared Holz wrote in a note. “A much longer trial, and [therefore] LLY looks far better head-to-head.”
Following the results, Eli Lilly stock (LLY) rose 1.7% on Tuesday, while Novo Nordisk (NVO) also rose more than 1%.
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