SAN DIEGO, CA – September 28, 2026 (STL.News) Viking Therapeutics Inc. is facing renewed scrutiny from shareholder attorneys as the biotechnology company advances its closely watched obesity drug candidate, raises hundreds of millions of dollars in new capital, and battles a separate licensing lawsuit involving other drugs in its development pipeline.
Kuehn Law PLLC said Monday, Sept. 28, that it is investigating whether certain Viking Therapeutics officers and directors breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders.
The shareholder litigation firm said its investigation concerns potential self-dealing and is seeking contact with long-term shareholders of Viking Therapeutics, which trades on Nasdaq under the ticker VKTX. Kuehn said affected shareholders could potentially be entitled to damages and corporate governance reforms.
The announcement, however, does not publicly identify a specific transaction that Kuehn alleges constituted self-dealing.
That distinction is significant. Kuehn’s announcement represents a law firm’s investigation into possible claims. It is not a court ruling, regulatory finding, or determination that Viking or any of its executives engaged in wrongdoing.
Other law firms have investigated Viking Therapeutics
Kuehn is not the first plaintiffs’ law firm to scrutinize Viking Therapeutics.
Other firms previously announced investigations involving the company, although those inquiries arose from different circumstances and should not be treated as one coordinated legal proceeding.
- Levi & Korsinsky LLP: The firm announced Nov. 14, 2024, that it had begun investigating Viking for possible violations of federal securities laws. The investigation followed Viking’s release of positive VK2735 obesity-drug data and subsequent concerns raised by analysts about potential manufacturing challenges associated with the drug. Attorney Joseph E. Levi was identified as the investor contact.
- Pomerantz LLP: Pomerantz announced Dec. 3, 2024, that it was investigating whether Viking and certain officers or directors had potentially engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. Its notice also focused on the November 2024 VK2735 developments and the subsequent stock-price decline. Attorney Danielle Peyton was listed as the investor contact.
- Kuehn Law PLLC: Kuehn’s 2026 inquiry differs from those earlier investigations. The firm’s current notice says it is investigating potential breaches of fiduciary duty and potential self-dealing by certain Viking officers and directors. The public notice does not provide detailed allegations identifying the particular conduct it considers potentially improper.
The allegations made in these law-firm announcements have not been established merely because an investigation was announced.
Viking Therapeutics – Earlier investigation followed sharp VKTX reversal
The 2024 investigations followed an unusually volatile trading session for Viking Therapeutics.
Viking released positive clinical information concerning VK2735, its experimental obesity treatment, in connection with the ObesityWeek medical meeting in November 2024.
VK2735 is designed as a dual agonist of the glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1, and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, or GIP, receptors.
According to the Levi & Korsinsky investigation notice, Viking shares initially climbed approximately 9% intraday on Nov. 4, 2024.
The market’s reaction then reversed.
Levi & Korsinsky cited analyst concerns about the potential difficulty and expense associated with manufacturing VK2735, particularly at higher doses. The firm’s notice specifically cited Deutsche Bank analysts raising concerns about the capital and manufacturing expertise needed to scale production.
VKTX ultimately fell more than 13% during the Nov. 4 session.
Pomerantz subsequently cited the same market episode when it announced its investigation.
Pomerantz reported that Viking shares fell $9.74, or 13.36%, on Nov. 4, 2024, to close at $63.14. The firm said it was examining whether Viking and certain officers or directors had engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.
Those statements describe allegations plaintiffs’ attorneys are investigating. They do not establish that Viking committed securities fraud.
Viking Therapeutics – Kuehn inquiry raises different questions
Kuehn’s current investigation concerns a different potential legal theory.
Rather than focusing specifically on the November 2024 stock decline and possible federal securities-law violations, Kuehn says it is investigating whether certain Viking officers and directors breached fiduciary duties through potential self-dealing.
But the firm’s public announcement does not detail the particular transaction or transactions underlying that assertion.
Without a detailed complaint, shareholder demand or other supporting documentation, it would be premature to characterize any particular Viking transaction as self-dealing based solely on the law firm’s announcement.
Viking Therapeutics – CEO stock transaction requires important context
A recent multimillion-dollar transaction involving Viking President and CEO Brian Lian could attract investor attention, but Viking’s SEC filing provides critical context.
A Form 4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission shows Lian acquired 221,667 shares on July 28 when part of a performance restricted stock unit award vested.
The next day, Lian sold 148,517 shares at a weighted-average price of about $33.3153, totaling roughly $4.95 million at that average price. Lian beneficially owned 2,572,441 shares following the transaction.
But the CEO did not disclose this as an ordinary discretionary sale.
The Form 4 specifically states that the 148,517 shares were automatically sold on a non-discretionary basis solely to satisfy tax-withholding obligations associated with the vesting of the performance restricted stock units.
The SEC filing therefore does not provide a basis for connecting Lian’s transaction to Kuehn’s allegation of potential self-dealing.
Viking Therapeutics – New VK2735 results send shares soaring
More recently, Viking’s stock has experienced another dramatic period of volatility.
VKTX closed at $30.11 on Sept. 21.
The following morning, Viking announced new top-line results from a maintenance study evaluating VK2735.
The company reported that patients receiving every-other-week maintenance doses maintained up to 97% of the mean weight loss they had achieved during an initial 21-week period of weekly treatment.
Patients switched to monthly dosing maintained up to 90% of their prior weight loss, according to Viking.
By comparison, participants transitioned to placebo maintained 61% of their previous weight loss.
Viking Therapeutics also reported approximately 22% weight loss from baseline after 33 weeks among an exploratory group that continued weekly dosing.
The company said there was no evidence of a weight-loss plateau during the 21-week induction period.
Those results produced a dramatic market reaction.
VKTX surged 35.67% on Sept. 22, climbing from the previous session’s $30.11 close to $40.85. Trading volume exceeded 41 million shares.
The stock advanced another 1.96% on Sept. 23, closing at $41.65 after trading as high as $43.10.
Viking launches major capital raise
Viking then moved quickly to raise additional capital.
The company priced concurrent offerings consisting of 7,857,143 common shares at $35 per share and $225 million of 2% convertible senior notes due in 2032.
Both offerings were upsized from the $200 million amounts Viking had initially proposed.
The company also granted common-stock underwriters a 30-day option to purchase as many as 1,178,571 additional shares and note underwriters an option to purchase as much as another $33.75 million in principal amount of the convertible notes.
The $35 offering price was substantially below VKTX’s $41.65 closing price immediately before the financing was priced.
Shares subsequently fell 11.76% on Sept. 24 to close at $36.75.
VKTX declined another 3.24% on Sept. 25, finishing the week at $35.56.
The sequence is important because investors should not automatically attribute the latest decline in Viking shares to Kuehn Law’s Sept. 28 announcement.
VKTX had already retreated sharply after Viking announced the equity and convertible-note financing.
Viking plans to fund obesity-drug development
Viking said it expects to use proceeds from the offerings primarily to support continued development, advancement and potential commercialization of VK2735, as well as continued development of VK3019 and other research and development programs.
The company may also use proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes.
The financing substantially strengthens Viking’s resources as the company competes in the rapidly developing obesity-treatment market.
But issuing millions of new common shares also increases Viking’s outstanding share count, while the convertible notes could eventually have additional implications for shareholders depending on whether and under what circumstances they are converted.
Viking Therapeutics – Separate Ligand lawsuit involves Viking drug rights
Viking is also involved in a significant legal dispute that is entirely separate from the shareholder investigations.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. disclosed that it filed a lawsuit against Viking on May 19, 2026, involving the TR-Beta program licensed to Viking under a 2014 agreement.
The program includes VK2809 and VK0214.
Ligand said it had notified Viking on April 24 that it was purporting to terminate Viking’s license to the program.
Ligand’s lawsuit, filed in California state court in San Diego County, asserts breach-of-contract and declaratory-relief claims and seeks damages and other remedies.
Viking disputes Ligand’s position.
On July 2, Viking filed an answer generally denying Ligand’s claims and asserting affirmative defenses.
Viking also filed a cross-complaint against Ligand and Metabasis Therapeutics.
According to the companies’ SEC disclosures, Viking is seeking a declaration that it did not breach the licensing agreement, that Ligand’s attempted termination was invalid, and that Viking retains its exclusive rights to develop and commercialize products covered by the TR-Beta program.
Viking also asserted breach-of-contract and breach-of-the-implied-covenant-of-good-faith-and-fair-dealing claims.
Ligand said in its latest quarterly filing that because the litigation remains at an early stage, it could not estimate the potential outcome or losses.
Viking, meanwhile, said it believes it has “good and substantial defenses” but acknowledged in its quarterly disclosures that it is not guaranteed to prevail.
Viking also warned that if Ligand ultimately establishes a right to terminate the agreement, Viking could lose certain intellectual-property rights associated with VK2809 and VK0214, potentially affecting its business and development pipeline.
Viking Therapeutics – Investors should separate the legal issues
The various investigations and lawsuits surrounding Viking should not be combined into a single allegation of corporate wrongdoing.
Kuehn Law is investigating possible fiduciary-duty breaches and potential self-dealing by certain Viking officers and directors.
Levi & Korsinsky and Pomerantz previously announced investigations into potential securities-law issues following the November 2024 VK2735 disclosures and subsequent stock decline.
Ligand’s pending lawsuit is different again: it is a commercial contract dispute involving rights to Viking’s TR-Beta drug-development program.
None of those matters establishes that Viking or its executives committed securities fraud, breached their fiduciary duties, or engaged in self-dealing.
At the same time, investors are dealing with significant corporate developments beyond the legal issues.
Viking has reported encouraging new VK2735 maintenance data, its shares have moved dramatically in response, and the company has completed a major financing designed in part to provide additional resources for its obesity-drug program.
VKTX moved from $30.11 on Sept. 21 to $41.65 two trading sessions later, then retreated to $35.56 by Sept. 25.
For shareholders, the key distinction is between allegations being investigated by private law firms, an actual commercial lawsuit with claims and counterclaims, verified SEC disclosures, and the company’s ongoing clinical development and financing activities.
Those are separate issues — and each carries different implications for Viking Therapeutics and its investors.
Disclosure: Allegations described in shareholder-law-firm announcements have not been established as facts merely because an investigation has been announced. Viking disputes Ligand’s claims in the separate licensing litigation and has asserted claims of its own. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or investment advice.
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