The weight loss injection by Viking Therapeutics experiences a 16% increase in stock value following its transition to a late-stage trial.

• On Thursday, Viking Therapeutics' shares rose after the company announced that it would accelerate the trial of its experimental weight loss injection.
• The drugmaker is taking a step towards entering the growing $150 billion market for GLP-1s, which analysts predict will reach this size by the end of the decade.
• Viking previously stated that it planned to commence another mid-stage trial of its weekly injection, VK2735, following positive results from a phase two study in February.

On Thursday, shares of the biotech company increased by 16% in premarket trading after it announced that it would accelerate the trial of its experimental weight loss injection.

The San Diego-based company is taking a step closer to entering the growing $150 billion market for GLP-1s, which analysts predict will become highly popular in the coming years.

Several small and large drugmakers, including Viking, are competing in the space against and , whose weight loss and diabetes GLP-1s have experienced a significant increase in demand over the past two years.

The stock prices of both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly decreased approximately 2% in premarket trading on Thursday.

Viking previously stated that it planned to commence another mid-stage trial of its weekly injection, VK2735, following positive results from a phase two study in late February.

The company has decided to move the injection directly into a phase three trial after receiving written feedback from the Food and Drug Administration, CEO Brian Lian stated during an earnings call on Wednesday.

Lian stated that the company intends to hold a meeting with the FDA in the fourth quarter to discuss the design and timing of the phase three trial, with the intention of beginning the study following the discussion.

The decision to shave a year off of Viking's development timeline for the injection, according to BTIG analyst Justin Zelin, could result in the drug launching in 2029 instead of the previously estimated 2028.

Lian mentioned during the call that Viking plans to test VK2735 as a monthly injection in a future study, making it a more convenient option than Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which are both taken once a week.

Viking Therapeutics' drug promotes weight loss by targeting GLP-1 and GIP, the same hormones that Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro target.

In a phase two trial, patients who received weekly doses of the Viking's injection lost up to 14.7% of their body weight, or 13.1% when compared to placebo, after 13 weeks.

Viking is also working on an oral version of VK2735, which resulted in a 3.3% weight loss compared to a placebo in an early-stage trial.