Jun. 21 at 2:40 AM
$ALT $VKTX $PFE
Big-pharma suitors currently lean toward Viking Therapeutics over Altimmune:
Viking’s edge: cleaner tolerability, a promising oral GLP-1/GIP pill in Phase 2, and an EU-based supply chain that sidesteps potential China tariffs.
Altimmune’s plus: strong 48-week weight-loss and lean-mass data, with a near-term MASH read-out that could add value—but it still faces higher GI dropouts and an expensive cardiovascular-outcomes trial before payers will reimburse broadly.
With 10-year Treasuries ~4.4 % and large pharmas able to issue sub-5 % debt, financing is cheap, and demand for obesity drugs remains red-hot despite payer push-back. Latecomers (Amgen, Pfizer, Roche) or incumbents seeking oral assets (Novo, Lilly) are the likeliest bidders, making Viking the more probable near-term target—unless Altimmune’s upcoming MASH data surprise and shift the calculus.
