Viking falls as rival Amgen 'pleased' with interim weight-loss drug data
** Shares of drug developer Viking Therapeutics VKTX fall 3.4% to $73.20 premarket
** Rival Amgen AMGN said late on Thursday it was "very pleased" with interim safety and efficacy data from a mid-stage study of its experimental weight-loss drug MariTide
** AMGN shares rise 13.2% to $315.17 premarket, company expects to release mid-stage data for MariTide later this year
** VKTX's injectable weight-loss drug has shown to help patients lose nearly 15% of their body weight on average in a study
** Viking and Eli Lilly's weight-loss treatments have a more validated mechanism of action that has been tried and tested, which may give it higher preference in a commercial setting compared to Amgen's MariTide, according to analysts at Truist Securities
** "We think the knee-jerk sell-off is a buying opportunity" - Truist
** Shares of weight-loss drug market leaders Eli Lily LLY down ~1.2% premarket and Novo Nordisk (NOVOB.CO) down 3.8%
** As of last close, VKTX shares have more than quadrupled this year
** YTD, AMGN down 3.3%, while LLY up about 30% and Novo up about 20%