William Blair says Viking bull thesis intact after Altimmune data

Shares of Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) trading down on concerns stemming from Altimmune’s (ALT) "underwhelming" date this morning, William Blair the analyst tells investors in a research note. The analyst emphasizes that Viking’s VK2735 is a dual GLP-1/GIP agonist on track to have first-in-human data in obese individuals later this morning or in April. In contrast, Altimmune’s pemvidutide is a dual GLP-1/glucagon receptor agonist with a different mechanism of action, and therefore has limited read-through to Viking. In addition, Blair says the bullish thesis on Viking remains on its non-alcoholic steatohepatitis asset, VK2809. It is a buyer of the stock on the selloff and keeps an Outperform rating on the name.