News from deep-pocketed rival hurts biotech Viking Therapeutics‘S (NASDAQ: VKTX) shares on Tuesday. The aforementioned rival seems determined to dominate a very hot therapeutic area these days, and it could be tough for a relatively small fish like Viking to compete. On the back of such concerns, investors sold off the biotech, sending its stock price down more than 6% during the trading session. That was on a good day for stocks, generally, with the S&P 500 index rises slightly by 0.2%.
Discount offer shakes up obesity drug segment
That giant competitor is Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY)which announced Tuesday that its Zepbound weight loss drug would be made available to patients in single-dose vials containing either 2.5 milligrams or 5 milligrams of the product. The pharmaceutical giant said the new offerings are priced at least 50 percent cheaper than competing GLP-1 obesity treatments.
“This new option will help millions of adults with obesity access the medications they need, including those who are not eligible for the Zepbound savings card program, those without employer coverage, and those who must pay out-of-pocket without insurance,” Eli Lilly said in a press release touting the new dosages.
This has implications for Viking as the biotech approaches the final stages of development of its own weight-loss drug, which will soon be put to the test in a phase 3 clinical trial.
The right products for the right market
Because GLP-1 drugs offer the enticing possibility of losing weight without exercise, they have become wildly popular in the U.S., a country with many overweight people. There are few approved obesity drugs on the market, hence Eli Lilly’s apparent efforts to gain an early foothold in this segment. Viking certainly has its work cut out for it if and when its own weight-loss products hit pharmacy shelves.
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Why Viking Therapeutics Shares Took a Big Hit on Tuesday was originally published by The Motley Fool
