A New Competitor to Wegovy Could Be on the Way. Should Novo Nordisk Be Worried?
The weight loss drug market has been one of the most talked-about investing trends over the past year. One of the leaders in this area is Denmark-based Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO), thanks to its type 2 diabetes medicine Ozempic and the Wegovy version approved for weight loss. However, Ozempic and Wegovy are facing stiff competition, notably from Mounjaro and Zepbound, marketed by Novo Nordisk's eternal rival, Eli Lilly. Further, a little-known but highly promising biotech is also looking to challenge Novo Nordisk in this niche.
The company in question is Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX), a midcap biotech that recently reported highly promising results from a clinical trial for a weight loss candidate. Let's look deeper into Viking's recent data readout and figure out what it could mean for Novo Nordisk and its shareholders.
Viking Therapeutics' weight loss candidate is called VK2735. It is a dual GLP-1/GIP therapy, meaning it belongs to the same class of medicine as Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro. In a phase 2 study, Viking Therapeutics gave patients different doses of VK2735 once a week while others took a placebo. The results were statistically significant reductions in body weight for patients on VK2735 at all dose levels compared to the placebo group.
Source Fool.com
