B. Riley sees two key positives in Viking manufacturing agreement

B. Riley analyst Mayank Mamtani reiterates a Buy rating on Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) with a $96 price target after the company announced a “long-awaited” manufacturing agreement with CordenPharma. The two key positives relating to the economics of the contract are the dedicated active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing and fill/finish capacity secured in exchange for prepayments totaling $150M over a three-year period and Viking retaining ownership of all global rights to VK2735, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Riley attributes the stock’s 38% selloff year-to-date to the lack of any potential strategic pharma corporate development activity. However, it believes Viking largely left its cash runway guidance unchanged “to maintain strategic optionality.”