Viking Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of therapies for metabolic and endocrine disorders. Its lead clinical program includes VK0612, an orally available drug candidate for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The company is also developing VK5211, an orally available drug candidate, which has completed Phase I trial for the treatment of cancer cachexia, a disease characterized by an uncontrolled decline in muscle mass. In addition, it is developing VK0214, a novel liver-selective thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist for lipid disorders, such as dyslipidemia and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, as well as other preclinical programs for metabolic diseases and anemia. The company has research collaboration with Kennedy Krieger Institute. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.
VKTX moved up in response to Madrigal Pharmaceuticals' announcement of successful 36-week results from a Phase 2 study of NonAlcoholic SteatoHepatitis (NASH) candidate MGL-3196, a thyroid hormone receptor-beta agonist. Viking's NASH candidate, Phase 2-stage VK2809, has the same mechanism of action.
