Yesterday, Viking Therapeutics' stock price surged 28% to $64.68, with a total market cap of $7.166 billion. So far this year, Viking Therapeutics has risen by 247.56%. Product structure-wise, the operating income for products worth 10 - 30 billion yuan are 401/1288/60 million yuan respectively.

In terms of news, Viking Therapeutics' weight loss drug development processes have accelerated.

Development processes have accelerated.

Previously, Viking Therapeutics stated that, after seeing positive results in a phase II study in late February, the company expects to begin mid-term trials for its weight loss drug VK2735.

However, during Wednesday's earnings call, CEO Brian Lian stated that, after receiving written feedback from the US Food and Drug Administration, the company has decided to move directly into phase III trials.

Lian revealed that he is preparing to meet with the FDA in the fourth quarter to discuss the design and timing of phase III trials and plans to start the research right after.

In response, BTIG analyst Justin Zelin said in a report on Wednesday that this decision could shorten Viking Therapeutics' weight loss drug development timeline by one year.

Zelin stated that analysts currently expect the drug to be approved for market by 2029.

Lian also revealed that VK2735 will be tested in future studies as a monthly injection.

This could make it a more convenient option than Eli Lilly and Co's Zepbound or Novo Nordisk A/S's Wegovy, both of which require weekly use.

Data shows that in phase II trials, patients who received weekly Viking Therapeutics injections lost 14.7% of their body weight after 13 weeks, compared to a 13.1% reduction in the placebo group.

In addition to this, Viking Therapeutics is also developing an oral version of VK2735, which will begin mid-term trials in the fourth quarter. In early trials, the drug has been shown to reduce body weight by 3.3% compared to the placebo.

Eli Lilly and Co's market cap evaporated by 120 billion US dollars.

In addition to Viking Therapeutics, there are other emerging stars in the weight loss drug market.

Previously, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche also announced plans to accelerate its weight loss drug development after achieving promising results with its experimental weight loss drug last week.

Against this backdrop, the dominant positions of Eli Lilly and Co and Novo Nordisk A/S in the weight loss drug market are being challenged.

Eli Lilly's stock price fell 4.5% on Thursday, hitting its lowest level since May and falling by 14% over the past eight trading days, causing the market cap to evaporate by $120 billion. However, Eli Lilly's year-to-date increase is still 41.36%.

Novo Nordisk fell nearly 3% on Thursday, with a year-to-date cumulative increase of 24.49%.

Jared Holz, an analyst at Mizuho, said: "Our assumption is that the weight loss drug market will not always be monopolized by the big two. I expect the intense response brought about by competitive product testing to decrease over time."

Holz believes that the current market rotation, with traders exiting stocks that have performed well, is another important factor in Eli Lilly's sharp drop in stock price.

He added that if the stock price remains at this lower level, Eli Lilly could rebound after reporting second-quarter earnings on August 8.

He said, "If all signs indicate a very strong fundamental, I believe the stock will rebound."