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Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) Popular obesity treatment Zepbound may face direct competition from Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX), as the latter expects to launch its lead asset VK2735 for weight loss in the next few years, data analytics firm GlobalData Said this week.
The forecast comes after the clinical-stage biotech reported second-quarter results last month indicating an acceleration of its Phase 3 trial of VK2735, a GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist similar to LLY Zepbound (also known as tezepatide).
According to a written response from the FDA, San Diego, California-based Viking (VKTX) said VK2735 generated positive interim data earlier this year and will enter Phase 3 trials. The update marks a faster timeline than the previous stance of another mid-stage trial.
“Assuming VK2735 enters Phase III clinical trials next year, it could become one of the next therapies to hit the market, competing directly with Eli Lilly and Company’s tezepatide due to its similar mechanism of action,” GlobalData pharmaceutical analyst Costanza Alciati said.
Alciati added that Viking (VKTX) expects to meet with the FDA later this year to discuss the plans, “and by moving directly into a Phase III trial, it could save hundreds of thousands of dollars and potentially get to market sooner than expected.”
However, upcoming weight loss drugmakers will face new challenges as their old rivals seek to expand the label for their obesity treatment.
Novo Nordisk (NVO) has received FDA approval to market its obesity treatment Wegovy to reduce cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease in overweight and obese patients.
After tilsiparatide produced similar cardiovascular benefits in a Phase 3 trial, Eli Lilly and Co ( LLY ) said this week it will meet with regulators to submit data later this year.
“It will be interesting to see whether new treatments entering the obesity market will follow Novo Nordisk’s approach of pursuing label extensions or choose alternative strategies to increase competitiveness,” Alciati concluded.
