Viking Therapeutics ($VKTX) is gaining attention for its oral obesity drug candidate VK-2735, which demonstrated over 8% weight loss in four weeks at the highest dose. This contrasts with Eli Lilly's ($LLY) Mounjaro, which achieved 12% weight loss over 72 weeks. Viking's market capitalization stands just under $4 billion with nearly $900 million in cash, positioning it as a notable competitor in the oral obesity treatment space. The company reports manageable tolerability for VK-2735, with nausea considered tunable and expected to resolve early if it occurs. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly's Mounjaro has become the best-selling weight-loss drug globally, surpassing Ozempic in quarterly revenue, and its Zepbound obesity treatment showed encouraging Q2 vial sales, accounting for 20% of total US prescriptions and 5% of new prescriptions. Novo Nordisk ($NVO) plans to launch its own obesity pill next year, signaling continued industry focus on this market. Goldman Sachs highlights obesity pill orders as a substantial opportunity for pharmaceutical companies. Despite some skepticism about the advantages of small oral peptides, Viking Therapeutics' large peptide approach is gaining renewed investor interest, reflected in its stock breaking above the $35 resistance level to highs not seen since February. Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks cautioned against drug pricing reforms, emphasizing potential negative impacts on U.S. innovation, even as the company posted a $15.6 billion Q2 revenue beat amid mixed obesity pill data.