Viking’s oral VK2735 a potential candidate for OTC status, says Oppenheimer

Following “disappointing results” from competitors’ oral obesity drugs, Oppenheimer analyst Jay Olson tells investors that the firm views the black box warning assigned to GLP1 drugs as “a hangover from earlier GLP1’s” and suspects a relatively safe oral GLP1, like Viking Therapeutics’ VK2735, could eventually become a candidate for a prescription to over-the-counter, or OTC, switch. In that context, the firm says its survey of 40 high GLP1 prescribing primary care providers, or PCPs, for opinions on oral GLP1 if it were OTC found that almost half were unconditionally in favor of an oral GLP1 drug going OTC. The firm, which believes oral VK2735 is a potential candidate for OTC status based on existing clinical data and looks forward to Obesity Week updates, suspects the potential for Rx to OTC switch is “top of mind for larger partners seeking a valuable entrant into the obesity space with potential for an extended life-cycle.” OpCo maintains an Outperform rating and $138 price target on Viking shares.