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Viking’s Oral Weight-Loss Drug Shows Early Efficacy/Safety Promise

 
• By Joseph Haas

An oral formulation of the GLP-1/GIP analog VK2735 showed up to 5.3% reduction in body weight after four weeks in a Phase I study, with a nearly pristine safety and tolerability profile.

Happy stomach
Viking's obesity candidate demonstrates benign GI safety/tolerability profile • Source: Shutterstock

A month after reporting impressive Phase II data for subcutaneous VK2735 in obesity – a readout that enabled Viking Therapeutics, Inc. to raise $550m in a follow-on public offering – the company unveiled Phase I data on 26 March for an oral formulation of VK2735 demonstrating up to 5.3% weight loss at four weeks with a benign safety and tolerability profile.

The amount of weight loss after only four weeks, albeit from a 47-patient Phase I trial, resulted in market analysts contending that VK2735 – a dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist – ultimately might enjoy a best-in-class therapeutic profile for an oral drug in the highly competitive obesity category

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