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Investing.com - Raymond (NSE:RYMD) James has reiterated its Strong Buy rating and $122.00 price target on Viking Therapeutic (NASDAQ:VKTX), a $2.75 billion market cap biotech company, following its Phase 2 obesity study results. According to InvestingPro data, analyst targets range from $33 to $125, with strong momentum shown by a 30% gain over the past six months.
The Phase 2 study evaluated oral VK2735 in obesity patients over 13 weeks, demonstrating dose-dependent weight loss reaching up to 12.2% reduction (10.9% placebo-adjusted, p
Raymond James considers this level of weight loss competitive with other oral incretin therapies in development and comparable to Viking’s injectable VK2735, which showed a 13.1% placebo-adjusted reduction at Week 13.
The firm acknowledged investor concerns about discontinuation rates and gastrointestinal-related treatment-emergent adverse events (GI TEAEs), which were higher than the low levels observed in the earlier 28-day Phase 1 study.
Raymond James noted that both the discontinuation rates and GI TEAE rates could potentially be reduced with slower titration, and highlighted that maintenance dose cohort data suggests low-dose oral VK2735 could be successfully utilized as a maintenance therapy, particularly at lower doses.
In other recent news, Viking Therapeutics has announced positive results from its Phase 2 VENTURE-Oral trial for the weight loss drug VK2735. The trial showed that the highest dose of 120 mg achieved a 12.2% weight loss from baseline over 13 weeks, with dose-dependent weight loss observed across various dosages. Despite these promising results, the company’s stock faced a decline, which analysts attribute to market dynamics and gastrointestinal adverse events. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) has reiterated an Overweight rating with a $98 price target, highlighting the trial’s success. Jefferies also maintained its Buy rating and a $101 price target, suggesting that the market may be overreacting to adverse events. Similarly, H.C. Wainwright and Stifel have reiterated Buy ratings, with price targets of $102 and $95, respectively. Analysts believe the trial’s results surpass those of competitors like orforglipron and high-dose semaglutide. Viking’s stock performance remains a point of discussion among investors and analysts.
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