Viking outlines ~$100M average quarterly cash usage as Phase III SUNRISE and VANQUISH advance

• "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," said President, CEO & Director Brian Lian.

• "Both trials are fully enrolled" and "continued to advance toward completion," Lian said of the Phase III VANQUISH program for subcutaneous VK2735, adding, "we expect the first patients to enter the extension period in early 2027."

• "Earlier this month, we announced the initiation of the SUNRISE Phase III registration program," Lian said, describing two Phase III oral VK2735 studies (obesity; obesity with type 2 diabetes).

• "Participants receiving VK2735 successfully maintained the majority of their initial weight loss following the transition to every other week or monthly dosing schedules," Lian said regarding Part 1 of the maintenance dosing study, adding, "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."

• "Finally, during the third quarter, Viking successfully closed concurrent upsized offerings of common stock and convertible notes, raising gross proceeds of approximately $575 million," Lian said.

• "Research and development expenses were $166.8 million" and "general and administrative expenses were $20.3 million" for Q3, and "Viking reported a net loss of $183.2 million or $1.55 per share," said Chief Financial Officer Gregory Zante.

• "At September 30, 2026, Viking held cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $960 million," Zante said, noting it "includes the aggregate net proceeds of approximately $550 million from our recent financing."

Outlook

• "We expect to complete this study by year-end" for VK3019 Phase I single ascending dose, and "plan to proceed to a multiple ascending dose study in the first quarter of 2027," Lian said.

• "We expect the results of this study to be available in 2027," Lian said of Part 2 of the VK2735 maintenance study.

• "I think we'd see a usage of average of around $100 million per quarter," Zante said of cash usage, adding, "some quarters will be higher, some will be lower."

• Compared with the prior quarter’s timing language that oral Phase III was "expected to begin in the fourth quarter of this year," Lian in Q3 said, "we announced the initiation of our Phase III SUNRISE registration program."

Financial Results

• "For the 9 months ended September 30, 2026, Viking reported a net loss of $469.5 million or $4.03 per share," Zante said, and "research and development expenses were $432.7 million" with "general and administrative expenses" of "$51.1 million" over that period.

• Zante attributed the Q3 year-over-year loss increase to spending: "primarily due to increased research and development expenses and general and administrative expenses."

Q&A

• Joon Lee, UBS: "would it be fair for us to make cross-trial comparison with tirzepatide?"; President & Director Lian: "we always caution against doing something like that" and "we have two formulations, a subcutaneous and an oral formulation of the same molecule" plus dosing flexibility that "imparts flexibility that others cannot offer at this point."

• Gregory Renza, Truist: asked for an update on the "commercial build"; Lian said, "we have a pretty solid commercial team" including "an SVP of Commercial" and added hiring in "CMC, supply chain, in quality and compliance."

• Jack Padovano, Stifel: asked why SUNRISE chose a narrower oral dose range; Lian said, "we want to lower the tablet burden" and "make sure that the program makes economic sense" with "sufficient gross margins."

• Nathanael Charoensook, Leerink: asked SUNRISE titration timing; Lian said, "there are 4-week titration blocks" and described stepping to maintenance dosing over a "68-week study duration."

• Hardik Parikh, JPMorgan: asked if maintenance data could support label language; Lian said, "we think they would support potential language in the label" and "label would be our preference for sure."

• William Wood, B. Riley: asked about VANQUISH extension dosing; Lian said, "we will be putting in both every other week and monthly cohorts" and for oral, "it’s premature really to talk about what those doses might look like."

• Timur Ivannikov, Cantor: asked why no weekly oral maintenance arm; Lian said, "the single-dose variability is quite high with the oral route of administration" and resources were "better invested in straight daily."

• Jay Olson, Oppenheimer: asked about discontinuations and regulatory packaging for less frequent dosing; Lian said, "the discontinuation rate is tracking our expectations" and on filing, "it’s TBD" but "probably more likely that it would be a supplement later."

• Xinwei An, Canaccord: asked oral positioning and Part 2 goals; Lian said oral use is "sort of a market expansion" and Part 2 will examine transitioning "from this weekly subcutaneous injection to a daily oral dose administration."

• Ryan Deschner, Raymond James: asked SUNRISE enrollment and site overlap; Chief Medical Officer Hubert Chen said, "there certainly is some overlap" and "we have no problems identifying new sites," while Lian added, "we're satisfied with what we see at this point" on early enrollment.

• Daniel Brims, Lake Street: asked about rising spend; CFO Zante said, "SG&A would be pretty consistent moving forward" and "in the near term, I would see it being fairly flat."

Sentiment Analysis

• Analysts were slightly positive and execution-focused, repeatedly pressing on differentiation, dosing strategy, regulatory packaging, and commercial readiness, including "how likely" comparisons and whether data could support a "maintenance label."

• Management tone was slightly positive and confident on execution, using phrases such as "we're very happy to have these important studies underway" and "we're satisfied with what we see," while repeatedly limiting disclosure on regulatory and dose specifics with "we're not going to get into details" and "it’s TBD."

• Compared with Q2’s forward-looking setup (oral Phase III "expected" to start later), Q3 carried a more advanced, de-risking tone anchored by initiation of SUNRISE and reported maintenance readouts.

Quarter-over-Quarter Comparison

• Q3 introduced multiple concrete catalysts that were pending in Q2, including: "the initiation of the SUNRISE Phase III registration program" (Q3) versus oral Phase III "expected to begin in the fourth quarter" (Q2), and maintenance data reported as "positive results" (Q3) versus "We expect to report the results... later this quarter" (Q2).

• Q3 messaging emphasized balance sheet expansion via financing ("gross proceeds of approximately $575 million") and a higher stated quarter-end cash balance ("$960 million"), while Q2 referenced "over $500 million in cash" and a stated runway framework.

• Q3 prepared remarks and Q&A expanded on commercialization build details (commercial leadership and operations hiring), whereas Q2 highlighted executive appointments, including "the appointment of Hubert Chen, MD, as Chief Medical Officer" and a "Chief Commercial Officer" addition.

Risks and Concerns

• "Single-dose variability is quite high with the oral route of administration," Lian said, framing design choices for Part 2 maintenance dosing.

• Lian flagged practical and economic constraints for oral dosing, saying, "we want to lower the tablet burden" and ensure "sufficient gross margins" for "a highly profitable enterprise."

• Management maintained limited visibility on regulatory timing and package strategy for maintenance claims, stating multiple times that filing inclusion is "TBD" and "too early to say definitively."

Final Takeaway

Viking management highlighted fully enrolled Phase III VANQUISH trials progressing toward an early-2027 extension, initiation of the Phase III SUNRISE oral program, and maintenance data suggesting retained weight loss with every-other-week or monthly subcutaneous dosing and tolerability described as not meaningfully different from placebo. The company also emphasized expanded funding from concurrent stock and convertible note offerings and outlined an average cash usage expectation of around $100 million per quarter as it advances clinical milestones and continues building commercial capabilities ahead of a potential VK2735 launch.

Read the full Earnings Call Transcript

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