New York, January 5, 2026, 14:21 EST — Regular session
- Viking Therapeutics shares were down about 10% as obesity-drug names swung on Novo’s U.S. Wegovy pill rollout.
- Novo said it set starter doses at $149 a month for cash-pay patients, with higher doses at $299.
- Investors’ next checkpoints include Viking’s Phase 3 enrollment milestones in Q1 and an earnings update expected Feb. 4 after the close (estimated).
Shares of Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) slid 9.9% to $31.93 in afternoon trading on Monday as obesity-drug stocks reacted to Novo Nordisk’s U.S. launch of a Wegovy weight-loss pill. Novo’s U.S.-listed shares rose 5.1%, while Eli Lilly fell 3.9% and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF dropped 2.2%.
The move highlights how sensitive obesity-drug developers remain to pricing signals from the market leaders. Viking has no approved products, so changes in expected pricing can hit the stock as hard as trial data.
Direct-to-consumer discounts are also changing how investors think about margins and market share in a category once dominated by high list prices and insurance friction. For smaller developers, it tightens the trade-off between efficacy, side effects and cost.
Novo said it began selling once-daily Wegovy tablets in the United States on Monday, pricing the 1.5-milligram and 4-milligram starter doses at $149 a month for patients paying out of pocket. The Danish drugmaker set the 9 mg and 25 mg doses at $299 a month, said the 4 mg price will rise to $199 from April 15 and outlined distribution through major pharmacies and telehealth providers; under a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, it and Eli Lilly agreed to offer starter doses at $149 a month through a TrumpRx site expected to launch this month. Lilly expects a decision in March on its own weight-loss pill and has said it would cap higher doses at $399 a month for repeat cash buyers. 1
Viking is developing VK2735, a dual GLP-1/GIP agonist — meaning it targets two hormones involved in appetite and glucose control — in both injectable and oral forms. The company said in November it completed enrollment in its VANQUISH-1 Phase 3 obesity trial and expected to finish enrollment for a second late-stage study in the first quarter of 2026. 2
Novo framed the rollout as a convenience play as well as a price move. “For many of them, that wait is over,” said Ed Cinca, a senior vice president at Novo Nordisk, in a release that also said the pill will be available through more than 70,000 U.S. pharmacies. 3
Viking has not issued a new press release since late November, leaving investors to trade the shares on sector headlines and any read-through for pricing and market share. That can amplify swings on days when the leaders reset expectations. 4
But the price fight raises the bar for newcomers. If payers and patients anchor on lower monthly costs, clinical upstarts may need clearer differentiation — or a partner with scale — to justify premium valuations.
