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ARTICLE | Company News

Ligand licenses five programs to Viking

May 23, 2014 12:11 AM UTC

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:LGND) granted Viking Therapeutics Inc. (San Diego, Calif.) exclusive, worldwide rights to five therapeutic programs, including two clinical-stage compounds, one preclinical compound, and two portfolios of preclinical compounds. The clinical programs are: VK0612 (formerly MB07803), a fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase inhibitor in development for Type II diabetes; and VK5211 (formerly LGD-4033), a non-steroidal selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) in development for cancer cachexia. Early next year, Viking plans to start a Phase IIb trial of VK0612 and a Phase II trial of VK5211.

Viking also gained VK0214 (formerly LG0956965), a liver-selective thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist in preclinical development for lipid disorders. The two preclinical portfolios include small molecule inhibitors of enterocyte-directed diacylycerol O-acyltransferase-1 ( DGAT1) for lipid disorders and small molecule erythropoietin (EPO) receptor agonists for anemia. ...