Three Biotechs That Are Top Takeover Targets

Alex Sirois

Mon, May 18, 2026 at 1:55 PM EDT 4 min read

Quick Read

• Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) has a dual GLP-1/GIP agonist in Phase 3 with 4,500+ patients enrolled and oral formulations showing 12.2% body weight reduction, offering a strategic acquisition target with $706M in cash and a $3.69B market cap. Scholar Rock (SRRK) develops apitegromab, a muscle-targeted therapy addressing GLP-1 side effects, with a European launch expected in H2 2026 and an existing Novo Nordisk partnership. Verve Therapeutics (VERV) created a single-dose gene-editing PCSK9 therapy showing 53% mean LDL-C reductions, with Lilly holding an opt-in that may lead to outright acquisition.

• Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are aggressively acquiring earlier-stage therapeutics to defend GLP-1 market dominance and expand beyond weight loss into muscle preservation and cardiovascular disease.

• The analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 stocks and Scholar Rock wasn't one of them. Get them here FREE.

Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) is the stock everyone wants to talk about, and the reasons are obvious: Mounjaro revenue jumped 125% to $8.66 billion last quarter, the company raised full-year revenue guidance to $82 to $85 billion, and the market cap now sits at roughly $881.8 billion. But here's what you should actually be watching.

The Hot Trade Is Already Crowded

Lilly is a great company at a price that already reflects greatness. Shares trade near $988.87 after a 21.25% one-year run and a staggering 1,465.32% gain over ten years. The decade of compounding has happened. From here, the math gets harder.

Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) is the other half of the GLP-1 duopoly, and it is fighting a different battle. Q4 2025 revenue fell 7.6% year over year, with US Operations down 15%, and management guided 2026 sales and operating profit to decline 5% to 13% at constant exchange rates. CEO Mike Doustdar has acknowledged "pricing headwinds in an increasingly competitive market." Shares are down 32.11% over the past year.

The analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 stocks and Scholar Rock wasn't one of them. Get them here FREE.

The interesting move is following where these giants are spending. Lilly's CEO David Ricks noted four acquisitions announced in Q1 2026 alone: Orna, Centessa, Kelonia, and Ajax. Novo's BD head conducted 200 meetings at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, fresh off the $4.7 billion Akero Therapeutics deal. Smart money tends to front-run acquirers rather than pay up at $880 billion.

Three Names On The Shopping List

Viking Therapeutics (NASDAQ:VKTX) is the cleanest strategic fit. Lead asset VK2735 is a dual GLP-1/GIP agonist with both subcutaneous and oral formulations, and Phase 3 VANQUISH-1 was fully enrolled with more than 4,500 patients ahead of schedule. The oral Phase 2 delivered up to 12.2% body weight reduction in 13 weeks. With $706 million in cash and a market cap of just $3.69 billion, Viking is small enough to swallow and dangerous enough that Novo cannot afford to let Lilly grab it. Analysts carry an average target of $92.33 against a current $31.31.