Viking guides VK2735 maintenance-dosing data to the third quarter of 2026
Viking's early study asks whether patients can keep weight off with less frequent dosing, a long-term-use question that Phase 3 results will not address until late 2027 [1].
Viking Therapeutics expects results in the third quarter of 2026 from a Phase 1 study testing whether people can hold onto weight loss with less frequent dosing of its experimental obesity drug VK2735 [1]. The readout, listed on ObesityIntel's catalyst calendar, covers maintenance strategies for patients who first lose weight on weekly treatment [1].
VK2735 is a dual GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist, which means it targets the same two hormone pathways as Eli Lilly's tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound [1][2]. Viking is developing it as both a subcutaneous injection and an oral pill [2].
The maintenance study is testing whether weight loss can be held with monthly injections or with oral regimens after weekly induction [1]. ObesityIntel describes the readout as showing "whether weight loss holds at a lower maintenance dose — the key question for real-world, long-term use, and a preview of the VANQUISH Phase 3" [1]. Specific results, including how much weight participants kept off, have not yet been reported [1].
In earlier trials, the subcutaneous form produced up to 14.7% weight loss at 13 weeks and the oral form up to 12.2% at 13 weeks [1]. Those studies ran about three months, so the numbers are not directly comparable with longer trials of approved drugs. ObesityIntel lists about 21% weight loss at 72 weeks for tirzepatide and about 15% at 68 weeks for semaglutide, the molecule in Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus [1].
Viking says VK2735 is being evaluated in Phase 3 studies for obesity, along with maintenance-dosing strategies designed to support long-term weight management [2]. ObesityIntel expects the first of those trials, VANQUISH-1, to report topline results in late 2027 and lists it at roughly 4,650 patients over 78 weeks, calling it Viking's "main binary event" [1].
Viking ended the second quarter of 2026 with $502 million in cash and a runway into 2028, according to ObesityIntel [1].
Viking management is scheduled to speak at three investor conferences in September [2]. Its fireside chat at the Morgan Stanley 24th Annual Global Healthcare Conference is set for Monday, September 14, from 3:20 to 3:55 p.m. ET, with a live webcast and a replay posted on the company's website [2]. The company also participates in the Cantor Global Healthcare Conference on September 11 and the Bernstein Annual Healthcare Forum on September 23 [2].
Why it matters for patients
VK2735 is not approved by the FDA, and ObesityIntel's pipeline tracker lists it as a Phase 3 drug [1]. It is not available to patients outside clinical trials, and a Phase 1 maintenance result is an early-stage finding rather than proof that a lower-frequency regimen works over years [1].
ObesityIntel frames maintenance dosing as "the key question for real-world, long-term use" [1]. In practical terms, the study is asking whether treatment has to stay weekly, or whether a monthly injection or an oral option could eventually take its place for people who have already lost weight [1]. How such a regimen would be priced or covered by insurance has not been disclosed, and whether regulators would treat it as a separate approval question has not been reported [1].
For anyone deciding about treatment now, the cleared options remain semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus), tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) and orforglipron (Foundayo), all of which ObesityIntel lists as approved [1]. Even if the maintenance data look good, the earliest Phase 3 results for VK2735 are expected in late 2027, so the drug is years away from any possible market entry, if it gets there at all [1].
What happens next
- September 14: Viking fireside chat at the Morgan Stanley Global Healthcare Conference, 3:20 to 3:55 p.m. ET, webcast live [2].
- September 23: Viking fireside chat at the Bernstein Annual Healthcare Forum [2].
- Third quarter of 2026: Phase 1 maintenance-dosing data for subcutaneous VK2735 [1].
- Late 2027: VANQUISH-1 Phase 3 topline results, about 4,650 patients over 78 weeks [1].
Sources
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