H.C. Wainwright says Lilly’s topline results de-risk Viking oral VK2735 program

H.C. Wainwright notes that this morning, Eli Lilly (LLY) announced positive topline results from the Phase 3 ATTAIN-MAINTAIN trial, which the firm believes represents an important inflection point for the obesity landscape. The data highlights the ability to transition patients from injectable therapy to oral treatment for long-term weight maintenance and, in Wainwright’s view, materially de-risk Viking’s (VKTX) oral VK2735 program and its ongoing maintenance dosing strategy. Further, the firm believes this helps reinforce the commercial viability of an oral maintenance approach as these results de-risk Viking’s approach by validating that oral therapy can sustain prior injectable-driven weight loss. Wainwright has a Buy rating on Viking Therapeutics with a price target of $102 on the shares.