Viking Therapeutics’ collaboration with Ligand Pharmaceuticals has sailed into some trouble, with one of the partners keen to jettison part of the pact.
The two companies’ relationship dates back to 2014, when Viking licensed five programs from Ligand. They included a preclinical thyroid hormone receptor-β (TRβ) agonist program for dyslipidemia, dubbed VK0214.
Viking has since taken VK0214 into the clinic, where it demonstrated a significant reduction in plasma levels of very long-chain fatty acids in a phase 1 study in 2024.
Viking has seen even more success with another TRβ agonist from the pact, called VK2809. Back in 2023, Viking revealed that the therapy had aced a phase 2 study in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. As a result, Viking handed Ligand a $10 million milestone, as well as announced plans to take the therapy into phase 3 for fatty liver disease.
Should Viking take VK2809 to market, Ligand would be entitled to between 3.5% to 7.5% of future worldwide sales, Ligand noted at the time.
However, that path to market seems to be less clear these days. While both therapies continue to be listed in Viking’s pipeline, the company didn’t highlight either asset in its first-quarter earnings release this week. Instead, Viking’s focus is on its lead obesity program VK2735, for which subcutaneous and oral formulations have either entered phase 3 studies or are expected to do so later this year, respectively.
Against this backdrop, Ligand has alleged that Viking “materially breached its obligation to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop and commercialize the TRβ program under the license agreement,” according to Ligand’s Securities and Exchange Commission filing May 30
As a result, Ligand informed Viking last week that it was terminating the TRβ program, including the licenses for VK0214 and VK2809.
As Ligand sees it, Viking now has to grant Ligand a license to allow it to develop or sell these therapies around the world, in return for a “royalty rate of low single digits.”
Viking is disputing the move, according to the filing. For its part, Ligand said it “intends to vigorously enforce its right to terminate the TRβ program under the license agreement.”
Fierce Biotech has reached out to both companies for more details on the dispute.
