• Viking Therapeutics' shares surged as much as 25% on Tuesday.

• The surge came after the it announced positive results of a study for an experimental weight loss drug.

• The company said the data was promising enough to launch a phase 2 trial later this year.

Viking Therapeutics shares rocketed as much as 25% higher on Tuesday after the drugmaker announced positive results from a small study for an experimental weight loss drug.

Shares just to $88.45 each in Tuesday afternoon trading, paring that gain to $83.43 as the market headed into the close.

The California drug maker's upbeat release on its GLP-1 tablet VK2735, a daily oral alternative to its promising obesity-fighting injection, showed promising results in a February mid-stage trial, the company said, and the latest results fueled confidence for a phase 2 trial rollout later this year.

"These Phase 1 results highlight VK2735's promising early weight loss and tolerability profile when dosed as an oral tablet," Viking's CEO Brian Lian said in a statement.

"We believe that an oral agent with good tolerability could represent an attractive potential treatment option for patients with obesity. We look forward to exploring longer treatment windows and potentially higher doses in an upcoming Phase 2 trial."

The data also suggest that longer treatment and possibly higher doses could lead to more weight loss, and stomach-related side effects of the drug have been minimized.

Eyeing to become a major player in the weight loss medicine market, Viking has been vying with giants like Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Analysts have predicted the GLP-1 drugs will be eventually taken by a significant portion of the US population, and Bank of America said this month that Eli Lilly could see $60 billion in sales by 2030 as a result of its weight loss drug.

Goldman Sachs predicts a potential 1% boost to GDP by 2028 if 60 million Americans use GLP-1 drugs, counteracting health issues that hinder workforce participation, raising worker productivity, and lower health care expenses.

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