A deepening sell-off in chip and memory stocks dragged all four major U.S. equity indexes lower by midday Tuesday.

CRISPR Therapeutics AG has successfully launched Casgevy, the first FDA-approved CRISPR-based gene therapy. Viking Therapeutics is a development-stage company in the high-growth obesity drug market with a promising clinical pipeline.

CRISPR Therapeutics has transitioned to the commercial stage with the first approved CRISPR-based gene therapy. Viking Therapeutics maintains a high-potential pipeline focused on the rapidly expanding obesity and metabolic disorder markets.

The weight-loss market is crowded, but this company's lead drug candidate has several key advantages.

Viking Therapeutics could have a medicine on the market within two years. To capture market share, the new offering will need to fight a pair of pharma juggernauts.

Viking Therapeutics is studying its weight loss drug candidate in late-stage trials. If all goes smoothly, the biotech could enter a market nearing $100 billion in the next few years.

Viking's VK2735 has advantages over other weight-loss drugs, and investors anticipate positive results from Phase 3 trials in the coming years. The development of VK2735 as a dual formulation therapy could be the key to unlocking value for investors.

In the closing of the recent trading day, Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (VKTX) stood at $37.48, denoting a -3.92% move from the preceding trading day.

Viking Therapeutics' pipeline includes several promising weight-loss candidates. The stock could soar in the next 18 months, but there is plenty of risk involved.

Viking Therapeutics, Inc. maintains a Hold rating, reflecting a balanced risk-reward at its current ~$5B valuation amid sector momentum. Novo Nordisk's oral Wegovy launch sets a new benchmark, highlighting peptide-based oral GLP-1 drugs' commercial potential and raising the value of VKTX's oral program. VKTX's injectable VK2735 faces intensified competition after Eli Lilly's Retatrutide Phase III results, which establish a higher efficacy standard (>24%).