Feb 11 (Reuters) - Viking Therapeutics VKTX.O said on Wednesday it plans to test its experimental oral obesity drug in a late-stage study later this year.

Shares of the company rose nearly 13% in premarket trading.

The company plans to advance a tablet form of its experimental weight-loss drug, VK2735, into late-stage studies in the third quarter of this year. Viking said it will provide more details on the study design in the coming months.

Last year, the company said the experimental pill helped patients lose 12.2% of their body weight in a mid-stage trial, missing Wall Street's top-end expectations of 15%.

Viking on Wednesday said data from the mid‑stage study supports its belief that effective weight maintenance may be achieved with a low-dose oral treatment strategy.

The drug developer said it believes the availability of both an oral and an injectable formulation is an important factor differentiating VK2735 from rivals.

Using the same active ingredient in both formulations may reduce the risk of unexpected side effects compared with switching between therapies that do not share the same active ingredient, the company said.

Novo Nordisk became the first company to gain approval for its oral weight-loss pill Wegovy, which has the same active ingredient as its blockbuster injectable weight-loss and diabetes treatments.

"Preliminary data tracking the recent launch of another oral peptide for obesity has demonstrated promising initial uptake. We believe this indicates continued interest in new weight loss therapies among both patients and clinicians, and represents an expansion of the overall market opportunity," said Viking's CEO Brian Lian.

Viking held $706 million in cash at the end of 2025, which it said allows the company to complete the late-stage studies for VK-2735, as well as pursue development of additional programs.