The arrival of a potential new rival in an important product category dinged the share prices of pharmaceutical companies Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) and Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) on Tuesday. Both slumped by around 1% on the day, contrasting unfavorably with the slight (0.2%) gain of the benchmark S 500 index.

The pharmaceutical star of the day was neither of those two companies. Instead, the spotlight shone on the lesser-known Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX). On Tuesday, Viking announced that the weight-loss drug it is currently developing performed well in a phase 2 clinical trial.

According to the company, VK2735 achieved its primary endpoint and all of its secondary endpoints. Patients who received the drug demonstrated statistically significant declines in weight compared to those who received a placebo. Viking added that the treatment was generally safe and well tolerated in the study.

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Source Fool.com