Shares of Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) jumped over 25% in early trading Tuesday after the company reported positive results in a test of its experimental wei༒ght-loss treat🙈ment.

The company said a Phase 1 trial of an oral version of its VK2735 drug showed obese patients who took it for 28 days demonstrated a dose-dependent decline in average body weight of 5.3% versus the baseline, and a 3.3% drop compared to those who took a placebo.

♈ Viking also suggested taking VK2735 for longer than 28 days at potentially higher doses could increase the bene🔜fits. Because of the findings, Viking said it plans to begin Phase 2 testing in the second half of this year.

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brian Lian said “an oral agent with good tolerability could represent an attractive potential treatment o🔴ption 🥀for patients with obesity.”

Last month, shares of Viking soared to an all-time high after the company posted positive Phase 2 results of an injectable form of VK2735. Both the oral and injectable versions notably use GLP-1/GPT receptor agonists found in weight-loss medicines such as Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) Ozempic and Wegovy. Demand for such medicines has boomed, and pharmaceutical firm🌊s have been rushing to find a way to market them in pill form.

Viking Therapeutics shares were up about 25% to $86.78 as of 11:10 a.m. ET Tuesday. They have more than quadrupled in value so far this year.