Where will Viking Therapeutics be in five years?

If you’re looking at promising healthcare stocks with significant potential in the anti-obesity market, one of the companies you’ll probably come across is: viking cure (VKTX 1.92%). Although the business is not yet generating revenue, there are many opportunities for the company in the long term.

Below, we’ll take a look at what the future holds for Viking and whether it could be a good stock to buy and hold for at least the next five years.

Will Viking have an approved GLP-1 drug within five years?

The big questions surrounding Viking Therapeutics today center around VK2735, a promising glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) drug. In the next five years, investors will find out the fate of the drug and whether it will be approved by regulators.

There are high expectations that it will be approved immediately. Phase 2 clinical trials showed that VK2735 was safe and well-tolerated among participants and achieved impressive results. After just 13 weeks of injectable treatment, the patient lost about 15% of his body weight.

Based on these encouraging data, it seems likely that VK2735 will gain approval within the next five years. Although there are no guarantees, it seems very likely that it will be approved, unless unexpected problems arise along the way or side effects are revealed in later clinical trials. And investors appear to be buying healthcare stocks based on the following assumptions: Viking’s stock is up more than 260% this year.

Investors also believe that Viking second This is a drug approved within 5 years. Last March, the company announced promising results for its oral version of VK2735 from a phase 1 trial, in which participants lost more than 5 percent of their body weight in just 28 days.

These are early results, but the important thing is that the pill is safe and well tolerated. The company plans to begin phase 2 clinical trials in the second half of this year. That makes it possible for Viking to have not one, but two GLP-1 treatments approved within five years, making it a potentially big player in the anti-obesity market.

Will the business be profitable?

If Viking Therapeutics has at least one approved product in its portfolio, the company will likely become profitable as well. In the first three months of the year, the company’s operating expenses totaled $34.1 million. These costs will increase as the Company advances and commercializes its drug candidates to later stages (assuming they obtain approval).

But given how lucrative the weight-loss drug market is, an approved treatment could quickly become a blockbuster drug for Viking. Ultimately, this will depend on how quickly the company can scale its operations and bring its treatments to patients. If either or both drugs receive approval, Viking could potentially become a profitable company within five years.

Could Viking Therapeutics be acquired?

Viking may also be a potential acquisition target, especially if VK2735 catches the attention of other healthcare companies. Many well-known companies in the industry are developing their own GLP-1 drugs and, if they are not successful, may choose to acquire them instead of developing them themselves.

With total debt of $33.6 million at the end of March, Viking doesn’t have many obligations or liabilities on its books and has close to $1 billion in cash and short-term investments. Its strong financial position could make the deal advantageous for prospective acquirers looking to add promising GLP-1 drugs to their portfolio.

Considering Viking’s valuation of approximately $7.5 billion, it wouldn’t be surprising if a large healthcare company attempted to acquire Viking within the next five years. This can result in large returns for investors as the stock can command a high premium.

Is Viking Therapeutics stock worth investing in today?

Viking Therapeutics appears to have a promising path ahead. However, investors should remember that this is still not a completely safe investment to add to your portfolio. The company may win approval for multiple GLP-1 drugs, but it may not.

There are no guarantees of profitability or acquisitions. The outlook for the future depends on whether at least one drug can be brought to market. If so, stocks may plummet. Failure may result in a sell-off.

Viking Therapeutics may be a good stock to buy, but you should consider the risks and uncertainties that come with it. This is because it is not an investment suitable for all types of investors.