VK2735

Viking Therapeutics' investigational dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist peptide for obesity, developed as both a weekly subcutaneous injection and a daily tablet, now in phase 3 (VANQUISH, SUNRISE) after 13-week phase 2 trials showed up to 14.7% and 12.2% weight loss.

Also referenced as: VK-2735

Also appears in: Metabolic

COA Public product evidence No certificate records are bound to a tracked VK2735 product page A record counts here only when a vendor publishes a certificate against one of its own tracked VK2735 product pages. Other certificates naming this compound may still exist — search the wider certificate database. →

---

What is VK2735?

VK2735 is a synthetic peptide that activates both the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor and the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor, the same receptor pair targeted by tirzepatide. It was developed by Viking Therapeutics of San Diego, California, which reports binding to the GLP-1 receptor (IC50 188 nM) and the GIP receptor (IC50 325 nM) as unpublished company data and describes a side chain that extends the peptide’s half-life after subcutaneous injection; the amino acid sequence and the nature of that side chain have not been published (Bays et al., Obesity, 2026;34(3):537–549). The company is developing the same molecule in two forms, a once-weekly subcutaneous injection and a once-daily oral tablet, and as of November 2026 it is known only by its development code, with no nonproprietary or brand name.

The compound drew attention because its 13-week phase 2 results in 2024 and 2025 placed it among the more potent incretin agonists in development and because it is one of the few peptide incretins to reach phase 3 as a daily tablet of the same peptide used for injection. It appears in research-peptide catalogs under its development code.

How it works

• GLP-1 receptor agonism. Activation of the GLP-1 receptor slows gastric emptying, reduces appetite and food intake through hypothalamic and hindbrain circuits, and increases insulin secretion in a glucose-dependent manner. These actions account for most of the weight loss seen with the single-receptor agonists semaglutide and liraglutide and for the glucose lowering seen in the dual agonist tirzepatide (Nauck and D’Alessio, Cardiovascular Diabetology, 2022;21(1):169).
• GIP receptor agonism layered on top. GIP receptor activation on its own has only modest effects on body weight in humans, but combined with GLP-1 receptor agonism it appears to add weight loss and to blunt nausea, possibly through central GIP receptors; the exact contribution of the GIP arm remains debated, since both GIP receptor agonists and antagonists reduce weight in animal models (Samms et al., Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2020;31(6):410–421). VK2735 was designed to capture this combination in a single peptide (Bays et al., Obesity, 2026).
• Extended half-life. The appended side chain gives the injected peptide a terminal half-life that Viking reported at roughly 170 to 250 hours after single subcutaneous doses in its phase 1 study (announced March 28, 2023), which supports weekly injection and has been used in company studies of every-other-week and monthly maintenance dosing. The oral tablet delivers the same peptide, and daily dosing compensates for the low oral bioavailability typical of peptides.
• Downstream metabolic effects. In the VENTURE trial, 13 weeks of treatment lowered fasting glucose by about 10 mg/dL in every active arm, returned 78% of participants with prediabetes to normoglycemia, and reduced systolic blood pressure by 7 to 11 mmHg from baseline (4 mmHg on placebo), while resting heart rate rose by 3 to 9 beats per minute compared with 1.4 in the placebo group (Bays et al., Obesity, 2026;34(3):537–549). The longer-term significance of that heart-rate rise will not be known until the 78-week phase 3 trials report.

Research status

Phase 1 (NCT05203237). A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled single- and multiple-ascending-dose study in 92 healthy adults and adults with a BMI of at least 30 kg/m² ran from December 14, 2021 to December 3, 2024 and covered both subcutaneous and oral dosing. Viking announced the subcutaneous results on March 28, 2023: after four weekly injections the highest escalating cohort lost 7.8% of body weight from baseline, 6.0% placebo-adjusted, with nausea in 58% of treated participants versus 50% on placebo and no discontinuations for gastrointestinal events. At ObesityWeek in October 2023 the company added that liver fat fell by up to about 47% placebo-adjusted over the same four weekly doses. Oral multiple-ascending-dose results followed on March 26, 2024: daily tablets of 2.5 to 40 mg for 28 days produced up to 5.3% weight loss from baseline, 3.3% placebo-adjusted, with no vomiting in treated participants, and higher cohorts up to 100 mg daily, reported on November 4, 2024 from ObesityWeek in San Antonio, reached 8.2% from baseline and 6.8% placebo-adjusted in nine participants. None of the phase 1 data has appeared as a full peer-reviewed paper; the oral cohorts were presented as a meeting abstract in the ObesityWeek supplement (Neutel et al., Obesity, 2024;32(S1):61–62).

VENTURE, phase 2 subcutaneous (NCT06068946). This 13-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled dose-ranging trial enrolled 176 adults with obesity, or overweight plus at least one weight-related condition and without diabetes, at 20 US sites between August 31, 2023 and February 23, 2024. Participants received weekly 2.5, 5, 10 or 15 mg VK2735 or placebo. Mean weight change at week 13 was −9.1%, −10.9%, −12.9% and −14.7% respectively versus −1.7% on placebo (all p < 0.0001), with no plateau; 40% to 89% of treated participants lost at least 10% of body weight compared with 3% on placebo, and 41% of the 15 mg arm lost at least 15%. Treatment-emergent adverse events occurred in 71% to 91% of participants in the active arms (placebo 69%); nausea affected 26% to 63% of the active arms versus 20% on placebo and was highest in the 15 mg group, which started at a higher initial dose. Sixteen of 175 participants (9.1%) stopped study drug because of an adverse event, serious adverse events occurred in 4.6%, two gallbladder events were recorded, anti-drug antibodies were detected in 9% to 23% of each active arm at week 13, and one participant in the 15 mg arm died of head trauma from a fall judged unrelated to treatment. Top-line results were announced on February 27, 2024; the full report was published online on January 8, 2026 (Bays et al., Obesity, 2026;34(3):537–549). All authors were site investigators whose sites were paid to run the trial or Viking employees.

VENTURE-Oral, phase 2 tablet (NCT06828055). A 13-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled dose-finding study enrolled 280 adults with the same entry criteria at 15 US sites; it started on December 18, 2024 and completed on August 15, 2025. Five fixed daily tablet arms of 15, 30, 60, 90 and 120 mg plus placebo (40 participants each) were accompanied by an exploratory arm that started at 90 mg and stepped down to 30 mg. Mean weight change at week 13 was −2.3%, −7.0%, −8.7%, −11.1% and −12.2% versus −1.3% on placebo, significant versus placebo at every dose above 15 mg; up to 80% of treated participants lost at least 10% (placebo 5%). Adverse events leading to treatment discontinuation rose with dose, from 5% at 15 mg to 30% at 120 mg, against 13% on placebo, and three participants had drug-related serious adverse events (angioedema with urticaria at 60 mg; dehydration and nausea with vomiting at 120 mg). Top-line results were announced on August 19, 2025 and the data were presented as a poster at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul on May 12–15, 2026 (Hedges et al.); no peer-reviewed paper has appeared as of November 2026.

VANQUISH, phase 3 subcutaneous (NCT07104500 and NCT07104383). Viking initiated the phase 3 program in June 2025 after an end-of-phase-2 meeting with the FDA, and both trial records list a June 23, 2025 start. VANQUISH-1 enrolled more than 4,500 adults with obesity, or overweight with a weight-related condition and without type 2 diabetes; VANQUISH-2 enrolled about 1,000 adults with type 2 diabetes and obesity or overweight. Each is a 78-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled comparison of weekly 7.5, 12.5 and 17.5 mg VK2735 against placebo, with percent change in body weight at week 78 as the primary endpoint. Viking reported full enrollment of VANQUISH-1 in November 2025, about five months after the first participant, and of VANQUISH-2 in the first quarter of 2026, roughly nine months after it began; both records show “Active, not recruiting” with estimated primary completion on July 1, 2027. No efficacy or safety data from either trial had been reported as of November 2026, and the company’s October 28, 2026 quarterly update guided to completion in 2027, with extension studies of up to 52 additional weeks, including every-other-week and monthly dosing, planned to begin in the first quarter of 2027.

Maintenance dosing study (NCT07838740). A phase 1, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study that began on November 18, 2025 tests whether weight lost on weekly injections can be held with less frequent dosing or with the tablet. In Part 1, about 180 adults with a BMI of at least 30 kg/m² received 21 weeks of weekly induction reaching 15 to 22.5 mg, then 12 weeks of every-other-week or monthly injections or placebo. Viking announced on September 22, 2026 that induction produced 16.3% to 18.7% weight loss versus 0.1% on placebo, that every-other-week regimens preserved 83% to 97% and monthly regimens 82% to 90% of that loss at week 33 compared with 61% for placebo, and that an exploratory group continued on weekly 17.5 mg reached −21.7% at week 33 (13 participants). Part 2, in about 195 adults, began in October 2026 and switches participants after induction to daily or weekly oral, monthly or every-other-week subcutaneous maintenance, or placebo, with results expected in 2027. These data are available only as a company announcement.

SUNRISE, phase 3 oral (NCT07868835 and NCT07868939). After a December 2025 end-of-phase-2 meeting with the FDA on the tablet, Viking announced on October 14, 2026 that SUNRISE-1 (adults with obesity or overweight without type 2 diabetes) and SUNRISE-2 (adults with type 2 diabetes) had started; each is a 68-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 560 adults comparing daily 27.5, 35 and 55 mg tablets with placebo. Both records were first posted on October 9, 2026 as “Not yet recruiting” with estimated starts in November 2026 and primary completion in July and October 2028 respectively.

Regulatory status. No marketing application for VK2735 has been filed anywhere, and the compound has no approval, no FDA label and no entry in Drugs@FDA. The company’s FDA interactions disclosed to date are the end-of-phase-2 meetings for the injection (June 2025) and the tablet (December 2025); no fast-track, breakthrough or other expedited designation has been announced. Development has been for obesity throughout; the early liver-fat findings have not led to a separate program.

Common dosage forms

• Investigational subcutaneous injection, supplied to clinical-trial sites for use by trial participants. The device, whether a vial with syringe or a prefilled pen, has not been publicly described.
• Investigational oral tablet, supplied to clinical-trial sites in the strengths used in the phase 2 and phase 3 programs.
• No approved or compounded product exists in any country. VK2735 is not an FDA-approved active ingredient, so it cannot be legally compounded in the United States; the only non-trial presentation is lyophilized powder in research vials labeled for laboratory use.

Key considerations

• Regulatory status. The Investigational status reflects an active phase 3 program (VANQUISH-1 and -2 fully enrolled, SUNRISE-1 and -2 starting) with no approval, no filed application and no expedited designation anywhere as of November 2026. On the company’s own guidance, the first 78-week results arrive in 2027.
• Evidence gaps. Peer-reviewed data cover a single 13-week trial of 176 participants; the oral data exist as a conference poster and the maintenance data as a press release. There are no published results beyond 33 weeks, no cardiovascular outcomes trial, no head-to-head comparison with tirzepatide or semaglutide, and no data in people with type 2 diabetes, who were excluded from VENTURE. Every study has been sponsor-run, and the published report’s authors are Viking employees or investigators at paid sites.
• Safety signals. Tolerability follows the incretin class: nausea, constipation, vomiting and diarrhea that peak during dose escalation. The dose-related discontinuations and drug-related serious events in VENTURE-Oral, the heart-rate rise in VENTURE, the anti-drug antibodies and the gallbladder events are described above. Whether pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, lean-mass loss or weight regain after stopping differ from approved agents is unknown.
• Naming. VK2735 and VK-2735 refer to the same peptide; both the injection and the tablet contain the same molecule. It should not be confused with Viking’s VK2809 (a thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist for liver disease) or VK0214, and “dual GLP-1/GIP agonist” is a class description shared with tirzepatide, a different peptide. No international nonproprietary name had been published for VK2735 as of November 2026.
• Undisclosed structure. Because the sequence and half-life extension chemistry have never been published, no independent laboratory has synthesized or characterized authentic VK2735, and no analytical reference standard is publicly available. Material sold under the name outside the clinical program therefore cannot be verified as the compound studied in VENTURE and VANQUISH.