Category VKTX

Viking Therapeutics Inc

Viking Therapeutics $VKTX, Structure Therapeutics $GPCR and Altimmune $ALT: The Next Obesity Drug Race

Obesity Race

The obesity-drug market has moved from discovery excitement into commercial combat. That is the central change investors have to absorb. In 2023 and 2024, it was still possible to build a strong biotech story around the idea that a company had an obesity asset with meaningful weight-loss data. In May 2026 that is no longer enough. The benchmark is no longer theoretical. Patients can already get injectable semaglutide, injectable tirzepatide, oral semaglutide and oral orforglipron in the U.S. market, while older weight-management drugs still occupy price-sensitive, generic or non-incretin niches. Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill was approved in December 2025 as an oral GLP-1 option for weight management, and Eli Lilly's Foundayo, orforglipron, was approved in April 2026 as a once-daily oral GLP-1 pill that Lilly says can be taken without food or water restrictions. Those approvals make the next phase more difficult, but also more valuable, because they validate patient demand for convenience and scale. 3 1 2

Obesity Medicines 2026 — Part 1: sector map for investors

A stock-market overview built around the names that matter most in the public conversation today: Novo Nordisk (NVO), Eli Lilly (LLY), Viking Therapeutics (VKTX), Structure Therapeutics (GPCR), Altimmune (ALT), Fractyl Health (GUTS) and Zealand Pharma (ZEAL). This first part is not a medical explainer. It is a market map: who already has real commercial power, who is still trying to earn strategic relevance, and which catalysts actually matter for the shares.

Obesity Medicines 2026 Part 2

Part 2 moves from the sector to the stocks themselves. Each company is examined through the same lens: ticker, core asset, stage, regulatory standing, commercial position, why the market cares, bull case, bear case and the next likely stock-moving issues. The goal is not to crown a winner but to show what each public name really is today.

Viking Therapeutics Inc (VKTX)

Viking has just reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 numbers and given a dense update on its obesity and metabolic pipeline. The picture is clear: spending is ramping, the cash pile is still very strong, and the company is steering both injectable and oral VK2735 toward the next wave of pivotal trials while preparing a new amylin program and keeping VK2809/VK0214 alive in the background.

VKTX Viking Therapeutics Inc

Short update on VK2735 after the Phase 2 VENTURE data were published in the journal Obesity and after CEO Brian Lian’s comments at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference 2026. For the full story, fundamentals and detailed scenarios, see the main VKTX report on Merlintrader.

VKTX Viking Therapeutics Inc

Viking is trying to crash a party dominated by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk with a dual GLP-1/GIP agonist, VK2735, in both weekly injectable and daily oral forms. Phase 2 data are eye-catching, Phase 3 VANQUISH trials are fully underway, and the balance sheet is still heavy with cash – but there is real execution, timing and dilution risk.

VKTX Viking Therapeutics Inc

Viking Therapeutics is one of the most watched “metabolic” biotechs because it is trying to build a two-lane story: (1) obesity with VK2735 (the same molecule in injectable and oral tablet forms), and (2) MASH/NASH with VK2809 (thyroid receptor beta agonist with histology data).

Anti-obesity drugs and weight-loss therapies

Scientific Comparison of Anti-Obesity Drug Efficacy 2025 – Complete Report Scientific Comparison of Anti-Obesity Drug Efficacy Semaglutide, Tirzepatide, Liraglutide, and Pemvidutide Complete Scientific Report – Updated: November 25, 2025 Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Mechanisms of Action and Pharmacological…