Why This Mid-Cap Biotech Could Be the Dark-Horse Threat to Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk
Viking Therapeutics aspires to take market share from both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, and it might succeed.
Why This Mid-Cap Biotech Could Be the Dark-Horse Threat to Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk
Overview
The market for anti-obesity drugs seems to be at risk of calcifying into a dominant duopoly. Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) split it through their GLP-1 medicines: Zepbound (tirzepatide) and Wegovy (semaglutide) for weight management, and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Ozempic (semaglutide) for type 2 diabetes. Together they hold nearly the entire U.S. market for branded obesity and diabetes treatments. Those are the kind of conditions that may be ripe for a new entrant to disrupt the incumbents.
Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX) wants to be that challenger. Its lead candidate, VK2735, has strong early data in hand, and comes as both a weekly shot and a daily pill. And because the company's market cap is just $3.5 billion, the stock is small enough that a modest win of market share could translate into an outsize return for shareholders. So let's investigate how and why this biotech could threaten Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
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Originally published at www.fool.com.
