It wasn't so long ago when Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) and Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) stocks were flying high thanks to their hotly popular weight loss drugs (Wegovy/Ozempic for Novo Nordisk and Zepbound/Mounjaro for Lilly).

In the pharmaceutical industry, as in other sectors, a high-demand product encourages competitors to enter the same segment. News of a rapidly emerging rival put the hurt on both Novo Nordisk and Lilly stocks Thursday, with the former closing the trading session down by almost 3% and the latter declining at a nearly 5% clip. Another weight-loss drug developer, Roche Holdings (OTC:RHHBY) fared better, with a 2.7% gain.

That rival is ambitious clinical-stage biotech Viking Therapeutics. The company published its second-quarter results and business update after market close on Wednesday, and the obesity drug incumbents probably wish it hadn't.

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Source Fool.com