Experimental weight-loss drug from a small biotech could outdo Ozempic

Viking Therapeutics posted results of an experimental drug that showed even better weight loss than the current market-leading drugs, a sign that the dominance of Ozempic and Mounjaro is far from assured.

Viking said Tuesday that a mid-stage trial showed that obese or overweight patients on the highest dose of its drug lost an average of about 14.7 percent of their body weight after injecting it once weekly for 13 weeks — or a loss of 13 percent beyond what a placebo group experienced. That weight loss is even steeper over that time than Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide and Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide.