It has been a quiet summer on the post front with holidays and then a few active projects keeping us very but, catching up on an exciting news story from this week:
Viking Therapeutics stock got HAMMERED on Monday Aug 19th.
William Blair analysts commented in their note that this was “Extreme and unwarranted.” (Link)
Viking’s oral obesity candidate VK2735 achieved its primary and secondary endpoints, demonstrating significant reductions in body weight compared with placebo in the Phase 2VENTURE-Oral Dosing trial (Link).
So why the wrath from investors….GI-related treatment adverse events.
A quirky but important detail was the rates of nausea in the placebo group: 40% vs 58% of participants on therapy. This strong placebo effect could be explained by the large number of people in the general population who are expecting some level of GI issue in an obesity trial.
The rate of participants suffering V*miting was 26% for those on VK2735 and 10% among those on placebo. However, the rates were much higher in the higher dose groups (90 mg = 35%, 120 mg = 35%).
Viking probably won’t progress these doses, with registrational trials likely being designed around the 30 mg or 60 mg, which achieved -7% and -8.7% changes in weight from baseline, with lower rates of V*mting (15% and 20% respectively).
These are just top-line data, with Viking continuing to review results and presenting at future conferences.
As these are released, it’s likely this whipsaw reaction from the market will even out.
Otherwise, for any pharma looking to expand its shots on goal in obesity/metabolic, it’s “sale” time for a company with multiple pipeline assets that it can progress in clinical trials.
Do you think investors overreacted, or are these side effects too significant for the weight loss?