Viking Therapeutics, Inc 2026 Q3 Earnings Call

Please go ahead, Stephanie. Hello, and thank you all for participating in today's call.

Joining me today is Brian Lian, Viking's President and CEO, Greg Zante, Viking's CFO, and Hubert Chen, Viking's Chief Medical Officer. Before we begin, I'd like to caution that comments made during this conference call today, October 28, 2026, will contain forward-looking statements under the Safe Harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about Viking's expectations regarding its development activities, timelines, and milestones. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. These forward-looking statements speak only as of today's date, and the company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any statement made today.

I encourage you to review all of the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning these and other matters. I'll now turn the call over to Brian Lian for his initial comments.

Thanks, Stephanie, and good afternoon to everyone listening in by phone or on the webcast. Today, we'll review our financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2026 and review recent updates across our pipeline programs and organization. During the third quarter, we made important progress across multiple pipeline programs and announced positive results from an innovative maintenance dosing study in our obesity program. With respect to our lead compound, VK2735, a dual agonist of the GLP-1 and GIP receptors, Viking's phase III VANQUISH clinical program continued to proceed according to plan. The VANQUISH program is evaluating the subcutaneous formulation of VK2735 in two studies, VANQUISH-1 in adults with obesity and VANQUISH-2 in adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Both trials are fully enrolled, and during the third quarter, both continued to advance toward completion.

In addition, during the third quarter, the company made significant progress with its oral VK2735 program, and earlier this month, we announced the initiation of the SUNRISE phase III registration program. As with the VANQUISH program for subcutaneous VK2735, the SUNRISE phase III program consists of two studies, one evaluating the treatment of adults with obesity and the other evaluating adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes. We are very happy to have these important studies underway, and I will provide more details on them in a few minutes. During the quarter, we also announced positive data from our novel VK2735 maintenance dosing study. Part one of this study was focused on our subcutaneous formulation and demonstrated an exciting signal that indicates the potential for novel dosing strategies to manage weight loss long term with lower and less frequent dosing regimens.

In this study, participants receiving VK2735 successfully maintained the majority of their initial weight loss following the transition to every other week or monthly dosing schedules. As a follow-up, we recently announced the initiation of a second part to this study to evaluate the maintenance potential of our oral formulation along with additional subcutaneous regimens. Beyond VK2735, during the third quarter, Viking continued to advance its amylin receptor agonist, VK3019, in a phase I single ascending dose study. We expect to complete this study by year-end and plan to proceed to a multiple ascending dose study in the first quarter of 2027. Finally, during the third quarter, Viking successfully closed concurrent upsized offerings of common stock and convertible notes, raising gross proceeds of approximately $575 million.

These funds substantially increase our financial runway and will support the ongoing development of all programs, as well as the company's growing commercial operations and launch plans. I will have additional comments following a review of our financial results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30. For that, I will turn the call over to Greg Zante, Viking's Chief Financial Officer.

Thanks, Brian. In conjunction with my comments, I would like to recommend that participants refer to Viking's Form 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we expect to file shortly. I will now go over our results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2026, beginning with the quarter. Research and development expenses were $166.8 million for the three months ended September 30, 2026, compared to $90 million for the same period in 2025. The increase was primarily due to increased expenses related to clinical studies, manufacturing for the company's drug candidates, stock-based compensation, salaries and benefits, and third-party consultants, partially offset by decreased expenses related to preclinical studies. General and administrative expenses were $20.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2026, compared to $8.6 million for the same period in 2025.

The increase was primarily due to increased expenses related to legal and patent services, third-party consultants, stock-based compensation, and salaries and benefits. For the three months ended September 30, 2026, Viking reported a net loss of $183.2 million, or $1.55 per share, compared to a net loss of $90.8 million or $0.81 per share in the corresponding period in 2025. The increase in net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2026, was primarily due to increased research and development expenses and general and administrative expenses noted previously, compared to the same period in 2025. I will now go over our results for the nine months ended September 30, 2026. Research and development expenses were $432.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, compared to $191.5 million for the same period in 2025.

The increase was primarily due to increased expenses related to clinical studies, stock-based compensation, manufacturing for the company's drug candidates, salaries and benefits, and third-party consultants, partially offset by decreased expenses related to preclinical studies. General and administrative expenses were $51.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, compared to $37.1 million for the same period in 2025. The increase was primarily due to increased expenses related to third-party consultants, legal and patent services, and salaries and benefits, partially offset by decreased expenses related to stock-based compensation. For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, Viking reported a net loss of $469.5 million, or $4.03 per share, compared to a net loss of $202 million or $1.80 per share in the corresponding period in 2025.

The increase in net loss for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, was primarily due to increased research and development expenses and general and administrative expenses noted previously, compared to the same period in 2025. Turning to the balance sheet, at September 30, 2026, Viking held cash equivalents, and short-term investments of $960 million, compared to $706 million as of December 31, 2025. This balance includes the aggregate net proceeds of approximately $550 million from our recent financing. This concludes my financial review, and I will now turn the call back over to Brian.

Thanks, Greg. I will now provide an update on Viking's clinical programs, beginning with our lead obesity program, VK2735. VK2735 is a dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide 1, or GLP-1 receptor, and the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, or GIP receptor. Viking is currently advancing both an injectable and an oral formulation of this compound for the treatment of obesity. In prior clinical studies, VK2735 has demonstrated promising efficacy, safety, and tolerability, and we are excited to be advancing this compound in multiple studies, four of which are phase III studies. With respect to the subcutaneous formulation, Viking's prior phase II trial successfully achieved its primary and secondary endpoints, demonstrating significant weight loss compared with placebo, as well as an impressive safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic profile.

In the phase II VENTURE study, patients receiving weekly VK2735 doses demonstrated statistically significant reductions in mean body weight from baseline, ranging up to 14.7% after 13 weekly doses, with no signs of plateau. The VENTURE study also showed VK2735 to be safe and well-tolerated through 13 weeks of dosing, with the majority of treatment-emergent adverse events characterized as mild or moderate. Following this study, and with subsequent feedback from the FDA, the company advanced subcutaneous VK2735 into phase III development, initiating the VANQUISH registration program in June of last year. The VANQUISH program consists of two clinical studies, VANQUISH-1 in adults with obesity and VANQUISH-2 in adults with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Each study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center trial designed to assess the efficacy and safety of VK2735, administered by subcutaneous injection once weekly for 78 weeks.