Viking Starts Part 2 of VK2735 Maintenance Study — Oral Daily/Weekly Tablets After SC Induction; the Oral Phase 3 Is Still Pending

Viking Starts Part 2 of VK2735 Maintenance Study — Oral Daily/Weekly Tablets After SC Induction; the Oral Phase 3 Is Still Pending

Viking Therapeutics announced on October 6, 2026 the initiation of Part 2 of its exploratory VK2735 maintenance dosing study — the first test of oral VK2735 tablets as a maintenance strategy after injectable induction:

• Per the company's release: "Part 2 of the study is designed to explore the potential of various VK2735 oral tablet dosing regimens as well as additional subcutaneous dosing regimens to maintain the initial weight loss achieved from weekly subcutaneous dosing. As in Part 1 of the study, all participants will receive initial weekly subcutaneous doses of VK2735 or placebo for 21 weeks."
• The maintenance arms being explored: daily oral tablets, weekly oral tablets, subcutaneous every-other-week, and monthly subcutaneous — testing whether lower-frequency maintenance can hold the weight loss delivered by the 97%-retention weekly SC induction reported Sept 22.
• CEO Brian Lian: "We are eager to continue this study with the initiation of Part 2, which will explore multiple regimens, both oral and subcutaneous, with the potential to provide greater optionality and flexibility to best align with a patient's individual weight loss journey."

Important distinction flagged by ObesityIntel (Oct 7): "this is not the oral VK2735 Phase 3 programme, which Viking guided to the fourth quarter of 2026 and has not announced… We keep the oral Phase 3 on the watchlist as open and inside its window." Part 2 extends the dose-ranging maintenance work; the registrational oral Phase 3 would be separate, and VANQUISH-1/-2 (fully enrolled, 78-week SC Phase 3s, topline late 2027) are separate again.

Market context. VKTX closed at $28.51 on Oct 12 — down 10.9% over the month and 32.3% below its 52-week high — with Q2 cash of $125.8M after the $575M raise and a Q2 net loss of $128.0M (/markets/VKTX/2026/10/12). Canaccord Genuity maintained Buy with a $114 target vs the $94.71 consensus. The stock fell ~3% on the Part 2 announcement day — the market wants the Phase 3, not more maintenance dosing.¹

Watch status: the "oral VK2735 Phase 3 initiation by end of 2026" watch remains open and inside its window; this Part 2 start does not satisfy it.