Weight & Metabolic
VK2735
aka VK2735 · VK 2735 · VK-2735 · vk2735 oral · oral vk2735 · vk2735 pill · viking pill · viking weight loss · viking weight loss pill · viking jab · viking therapeutics · vk 2735 tablet · vk2753 · vk2375
Grade
An experimental weight-loss drug from Viking Therapeutics that works like tirzepatide, tested as a weekly jab and a daily pill. Early trials show strong short-term weight loss, but it is still in Phase 3 and not approved anywhere.
- Class
- Dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist peptide; tested as a weekly injection and as a once-daily oral tablet
- Evidence
- Grade B · Promising human evidence
- Sport / WADA
- Prohibited at all times under S0 (non-approved substances). The WADA 2026 Prohibited List bans any pharmacological substance not covered elsewhere on the List and with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use, explicitly including drugs under clinical development.
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10
Grade B · Promising human evidence
Why this grade
The lowest end of B. There are real placebo-controlled human trials, but the only peer-reviewed one is a 13-week Phase 2 study of the weekly injection (VENTURE, Obesity 2026, 176 people), which showed 9.1% to 14.7% weight loss versus 1.7% on placebo. A 13-week oral-tablet trial (280 people) and a 21-week injection study with a 12-week maintenance phase (about 180 people) have been reported only in company press releases. All studies were run by the manufacturer, Viking Therapeutics, and none lasted longer than about 33 weeks. Phase 3 trials of the injection (VANQUISH) are fully enrolled but have not reported. No regulator has approved it.
What is it?
Why people buy it
People are interested in it to lose weight. It is being tested as a weekly injection and as a daily pill.
What we actually know
- •It works in a similar way to tirzepatide (Mounjaro). It copies two gut hormones that control hunger.
- •In a 13-week study of the injection, people lost about 9 to 15% of their weight.
- •People on a dummy treatment lost about 2%. A 13-week pill study found up to about 12%.
- •The studies were short. It is not a licensed medicine in the UK or anywhere else.
What might happen
- •Weight loss looks likely in the short term. Nobody knows yet how it does over a year or more.
- •Feeling sick, being sick and other stomach problems were common, mostly early on.
- •In the pill study, about 1 in 5 people on it stopped because of side effects.
- •Long-term safety is unknown. Big, long studies are still running.
- •Anything sold online under this name is not checked. Nobody knows what is really in it.
- •It is banned in sport at all times, because it is not an approved medicine.
Bottom line
Strong early results, but only from short studies run by the company. The real tests are still going.
Know someone taking this?
Send on WhatsAppVK2735 is like a new runner who has posted fast times in short sprints. The times are real, but a sprint is not a marathon. The long races (Phase 3) are under way, and nobody knows yet how it will run over a full year.
How is it meant to work?
Activates both the GLP-1 and GIP receptors, the same dual-incretin approach as tirzepatide. GLP-1 receptor activation reduces appetite, slows gastric emptying and enhances glucose-dependent insulin release; GIP receptor activation contributes to appetite and metabolic effects. Given by weekly subcutaneous injection, or as a once-daily oral tablet formulation, in trials.
What's it studied for?
Research contexts. Not proven uses, and not recommendations.
Does the human evidence stack up?
Promising but short. One peer-reviewed Phase 2 trial (Obesity 2026, 13 weeks, n=176) showed 9.1% to 14.7% weight loss versus 1.7% on placebo with the weekly injection. Press-release data from a 13-week oral-tablet trial (n=280; up to 12.2% versus 1.3%) and a 21-week injection study with a 12-week maintenance phase (about 180 people) look similar, but are not peer reviewed. The oral trial had notable dropout from side effects. All studies were sponsored by Viking Therapeutics, none ran longer than about 33 weeks, and the Phase 3 VANQUISH trials have not reported. There are no long-term safety data.
What could go wrong?
- !Not licensed by the MHRA or any other regulator. Its benefit-risk balance has not been signed off for any use
- !Gastrointestinal side effects (nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation) were common, mostly early in treatment
- !In the oral-tablet trial, 20% of people on VK2735 stopped because of side effects, versus 13% on placebo (company press release)
- !The only peer-reviewed trial lasted 13 weeks; longer-term and maintenance data are press releases only, and all studies were run by the manufacturer
- !Drugs in the GLP-1 family carry warnings about pancreatitis and gallbladder problems; how VK2735 compares is not yet known
- !No long-term safety data
- !GREY MARKET: anything sold online as 'VK2735' is unlicensed and outside regulatory oversight. Identity, dose, purity and sterility are unverified and it is not the trial product
Is it legal in the UK?
Investigational drug, not a licensed UK medicine. The MHRA has not granted a marketing authorisation, and it is not available on prescription or the NHS. Legitimate access is only through a registered clinical trial. Products sold to UK buyers under the name 'VK2735' are unlicensed research chemicals; supplying it for human use would breach the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.
Key trials
- NCT06068946· Phase 2· Completed
VENTURE: VK2735 for weight management (weekly injection)
176 participants, 13 weeks; published in Obesity 2026.
- NCT06828055· Phase 2· Completed
VENTURE-Oral Dosing: VK2735 tablet for weight management
280 participants, 13 weeks; results by press release only.
- NCT07104500· Phase 3· Active, not recruiting
VANQUISH-1: VK2735 for weight management
About 4,500 participants; started June 2025.
- NCT07104383· Phase 3· Active, not recruiting
VANQUISH-2: VK2735 for weight management in type 2 diabetes
About 1,100 participants; started June 2025.
Sources
- 01Weekly Subcutaneous VK2735, a GIP/GLP-1 Receptor Dual Agonist, for Weight Management: Phase 2, Randomized, 13-Week VENTURE Study — Bays HE, et al., Obesity (Silver Spring) (2026)
n=176 enrolled; 13 weeks; 9.1% to 14.7% weight loss vs 1.7% placebo; side effects mainly gastrointestinal.
- 02Viking Therapeutics announces positive top-line results from Phase 2 VENTURE-Oral Dosing trial of VK2735 tablet formulation in patients with obesity, Viking Therapeutics press release (PR Newswire) (2025)
n=280; up to 12.2% vs 1.3% at 13 weeks; discontinuation for adverse events 20% vs 13%. Not peer reviewed.
- 03Viking Therapeutics announces positive topline results from maintenance study of GLP-1/GIP agonist VK2735, Viking Therapeutics press release (2026)
About 180 adults; roughly 16% to 19% weight loss at 21 weeks; maintenance with less frequent dosing. Not peer reviewed.
- 04VK2735 for Weight Management Phase 3 (VANQUISH-1), ClinicalTrials.gov (2025)
Phase 3; about 4,500 participants; active, not recruiting.
- 05World Anti-Doping Code International Standard: Prohibited List 2026, World Anti-Doping Agency (2026)
S0 non-approved substances: drugs under clinical development are prohibited at all times.
Related
Before you trust a vial
Peptides are freeze-dried for a reason. If you have seen VK2735 sold pre-mixed in a ready-to-use pen or syringe, here is why that is a red flag for potency, sterility and dosing.
Storage & stability →Stay posted
Follow VK2735
We'll email you only when VK2735's evidence actually changes — a new human trial, a grade change, a safety signal. No spam, nothing for sale.