Viking Therapeutics Shares Stabilize Following Steep Decline

Viking Therapeutics’ stock appears to be finding its footing after a punishing sell-off last week, entering a period of volatile consolidation as the market attempts to establish a new price floor. This price action represents a direct market response to the company’s latest clinical trial announcements.

Market Focus Shifts to Drug Tolerability

While Viking’s oral obesity candidate, VK2735, successfully met the primary endpoint in a Phase 2 study—demonstrating statistically significant weight loss of up to 12.2% over a 13-week period—financial markets reacted negatively. Investor attention has zeroed in on the treatment’s tolerability profile rather than its efficacy.

A discontinuation rate of 28% among patients receiving the treatment, compared to 18% in the placebo group, has raised significant concerns. This substantial differential has prompted the market to question the drug’s overall competitiveness and commercial potential.

Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Viking Therapeutics?

Heightened Scrutiny in Competitive Landscape

VK2735 now faces intense comparison against established products from industry leaders Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. From a market perspective, Viking’s candidate appears to deliver inferior results specifically regarding side effects and patient dropout rates.

These developments have substantially reset expectations in the fiercely competitive market for oral weight-loss medications. Last week’s dramatic price collapse of over 40% reflects this disappointed reassessment of the drug’s prospects. The company’s market capitalization evaporated as investors aggressively revised downward their valuation of the compound’s future commercial opportunity.