2 GLP-1 Stocks That Could Double Your Money by 2031

The GLP-1 market may be one of the fastest-growing in the pharmaceutical industry right now. Many of the largest drugmakers are looking to capitalize on this and are developing promising GLP-1 candidates. The list includes Roche (OTC: RHHBY), Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN), Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), and others. However, there are also smaller biotechs looking to tap into this market, such as Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VKTX) and Kailera Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KLRA).

Investing in these less prominent players carries substantially more risk. They aren't as well-established as their larger peers and could lose significant market value overnight due to clinical setbacks. However, Viking Therapeutics and Kailera Therapeutics also arguably have more upside potential. Here's why these stocks could double investors' money by 2031.

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1. Viking Therapeutics

The next 18 months will be critical for Viking Therapeutics as the drugmaker will release data from several ongoing clinical trials. Later this year, we should see results from a maintenance study the biotech company is running. Viking Therapeutics is testing whether administering its leading candidate, VK2735, to patients daily, weekly, or monthly (after an induction period) will help keep the weight off.

VK2735 is a dual GLP-1 and GIP agonist (it mimics the actions of both hormones). A subcutaneous version of the medicine is also undergoing a pair of phase 3 clinical trials, one of which enrolled patients who are overweight or obese with at least one weight-related comorbidity, and another one that enrolled overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Viking Therapeutics should complete these studies next year.

Subcutaneous VK2735 posted a mean weight loss of up to 14.7% in 13 weeks in a phase 2 study. Those are excellent results. And if it can achieve a mean weight loss of 23% to 25% in its phase 3 trials (for patients who aren't diabetic), while maintaining reasonable tolerability, the stock will likely soar.

Meanwhile, Viking Therapeutics is also making progress with an oral version of VK2735, which should begin late-stage studies by the end of the year. And the company has other candidates in the early stages of development. Provided both versions of VK2735 ace phase 3 results, Viking Therapeutics could carve out a niche in the GLP-1 market and post market-beating returns through 2031.

2. Kailera Therapeutics

Kailera Therapeutics, which went public earlier this year, licensed a portfolio of anti-obesity candidates from its Chinese partner, Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals. Kailera's candidates include ribupatide injection, a dual GLP-1 and GIP agonist. Ribupatide injection is undergoing phase 3 studies for chronic weight management, and some higher doses of the medicine are also being tested in phase 2 clinical trials. Elsewhere, Kailera Therapeutics is developing an oral formulation of ribupatide.

The company has other candidates as well, such as KAI-4729, an investigational medicine that mimics the action of three separate hormones. This approach could lead to significantly more weight loss, as we are seeing with retatrutide, a triple agonist being developed by Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), a pharmaceutical giant and the leader in the field. Retatrutide has posted exceptional results in phase 3 studies.

That's no guarantee that Kailera's own triple agonist will do the same, but the point is that the company has a fairly attractive, differentiated pipeline of anti-obesity (and diabetes) candidates for a biotech worth just $2.33 billion. Further, some of its candidates have also already performed well in clinical trials conducted in China.

While regulators in the U.S. may still require additional testing (preferably in the country) before granting approval, successes in clinical studies, even abroad, provide at least some evidence that Kailera's programs can succeed. Within a couple of years, we will know much more about Kailera's prospects as the company presents additional clinical trial data for ribupatide, KAI-4729, and other candidates.

If Kailera Therapeutics can impress the market, expect its share price to jump significantly and potentially sustain a solid run through 2031 as it becomes a notable player in the chronic weight management market.

Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Eli Lilly and Viking Therapeutics. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amgen, Eli Lilly, and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool recommends Roche Holding AG and Viking Therapeutics. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.