SAN DIEGO — Shares of Viking Therapeutics Inc. surged 29.69% to $39.05 in Tuesday trading, adding $8.94, after the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company reported positive top-line results from a maintenance study of its experimental obesity drug, showing patients retained the vast majority of their weight loss even after switching to a reduced dosing schedule.

The results come from a maintenance trial of VK2735, Viking’s dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist being developed to compete in the rapidly expanding obesity drug market alongside blockbuster treatments including Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy. According to the data released Tuesday, the 17.5-milligram weekly dose of VK2735 delivered a 22% placebo-adjusted reduction in body weight over a 33-week treatment period.

The trial’s maintenance phase, examining what happens when patients shift away from weekly dosing, produced the results that most directly drove Tuesday’s rally. Patients who moved to an every-other-week dosing schedule for 12 weeks retained up to 97% of their prior weight loss, while those who shifted to monthly dosing retained up to 90%, compared with just 61% retention among patients in the placebo group over the same period. Viking also reported a favorable safety profile from the trial, with gastrointestinal side effects, a common concern with this class of obesity drugs, occurring at rates comparable to placebo.

The maintenance data adds to earlier results from the same trial, in which patients treated with weekly VK2735 lost between 16% and 19% of their body weight after 21 weeks of treatment, according to the company’s disclosures. Viking had previously indicated it expected maintenance data from the study to become available during the third quarter of 2026, a timeline the company said remained unchanged with Tuesday’s release.

Viking is already advancing an injectable formulation of VK2735 through Phase 3 clinical trials, with approximately 5,500 patients enrolled across two separate late-stage studies. Separately, the company has said it plans to advance an oral formulation of VK2735 into its own Phase 3 program by the end of 2026, a step the company has described as a critical milestone on the path toward potential regulatory approval and eventual commercialization.

Trading volume in Viking shares climbed sharply above typical levels as the news spread Tuesday, with the stock’s move standing out clearly against an otherwise muted broader market. The S&P 500 edged up just 0.1% on the day, the Nasdaq Composite gained roughly 0.05%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 0.3%, indicating that Tuesday’s sharp move in Viking shares was driven entirely by the company-specific clinical trial news rather than any broader market catalyst.

Viking shares had previously touched a 52-week high of $43.15, and the stock’s premarket trading Tuesday, which saw shares briefly approach the $42 level before regular trading began, brought the stock within close range of that prior peak. Tuesday’s percentage gain ranks among the largest single-day moves for the stock since February 2024, according to trading data reviewed following the announcement.

Ahead of Tuesday’s data release, Oppenheimer had maintained a price target of $100 on Viking shares, a level that implied substantial potential upside even before the maintenance study results were made public. Other analysts have offered similarly bullish assessments of the stock in recent months as VK2735’s clinical program has advanced, with firms including H.C. Wainwright, Cantor Fitzgerald and BTIG Research maintaining Buy ratings on the shares over the course of the year, even as JPMorgan trimmed its own price target to $65 from $75 in August, reflecting a range of views on the stock’s near-term valuation heading into Tuesday’s catalyst.

Founded and based in San Diego, Viking Therapeutics focuses on developing therapies for metabolic and endocrine diseases. Beyond VK2735, the company’s broader pipeline includes VK2809, a treatment candidate for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and hypercholesterolemia; VK5211, aimed at muscle wasting conditions; and VK0214, targeting X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, a rare genetic disorder. As a clinical-stage company, Viking currently generates no product revenue and continues to fund its operations primarily through equity offerings and collaboration agreements. The company reported cash reserves of approximately $502 million as of the end of the second quarter of 2026, providing capital runway to continue advancing its pipeline through the coming stages of clinical development.

With Viking’s injectable VK2735 program continuing through Phase 3 testing and the company targeting a Phase 3 launch for its oral formulation before year-end, investors are likely to watch closely for further data readouts in the coming months, as the company works to establish VK2735 as a credible competitor within a rapidly growing obesity treatment market currently dominated by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk’s established blockbuster therapies.

The international conglomerate says gas prices in the UK are now 12 times those in the US, and eight times more costly than production based on coal from China

Three chemical plants in Hull owned by Ineos are set to be “idled” in a move that puts 4,000 jobs at risk. Ineos’ billionaire owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe cited soaring gas prices as the reason for mothballing the facilities at Saltend Chemicals Park, which manufacture products used across pharmaceuticals, clothing, cosmetics, detergents, construction materials and military explosives.

The international conglomerate states that gas prices in the UK are now 12 times higher than those in the US, and eight times more expensive than production using coal from China. With the plants relying on gas both for energy and throughout the manufacturing process, continuing operations has become financially unviable.

Sir Jim, chairman of INEOS, said: “I’m sure people will find it hard to believe that we are being forced to mothball some of the most efficient plants in Europe but with gas prices now 12 times the level in the US and eight times that of China, we just cannot compete. Not only is the ridiculously high gas price in the UK destroying our manufacturing base and the jobs of hard-working people on Humberside, it is also massively increasing the environmental burden with replacement products supplied from the USA at double the carbon emissions and from China at eight times the emission level.

“The UK Government’s energy policy is leading to economic vandalism on an industrial scale, exporting jobs to China and the United States and driving up global CO2 emissions at a stroke.”

Two of the three chemical intermediate plants have already suspended operations, with a third set to go offline within the coming days. Ineos has described the move as being “until further notice” and warned that permanent closure would put close to 4,000 jobs on Humberside at risk, reports Hull Live.

The decision by Ineos comes after the loss of 60 jobs at Saltend last year, when the company similarly cited soaring energy costs and competition from abroad. The facilities provide materials to clients throughout Europe.

The company maintains that due to significant investment, the Hull operations rank among the most efficient globally and run at the lowest achievable CO2 emissions levels. The Hull units manufacture material with a carbon footprint reportedly two times smaller than that produced in the United States and eight times lower than Chinese-made material.

A Government spokesperson said: “While this is a commercial decision from Ineos, we know this will be a concerning time for workers in Saltend and their families. We’ve taken bold action to support our chemicals industry including £350m for strategically important chemicals producers, which will be available on a co-investment basis.

“We’ve also put trade measures in place on foreign chemicals imports and are tackling high electricity costs via our Supercharger and British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme to keep our chemicals sector competitive.”

NEW YORK — Momofuku Goods is launching a line of cooking sauces.

The chili crunch sauce is formulated with chili crunch, miso and garlic.

Momoyaki sauce is made with soy, ginger and garlic.

The sweet and spicy sauce contains gochujang, soy and garlic.

The sweet and sour sauce is formulated with vinegar, chili crunch and ginger.

The miso ginger sauce is made with miso and ginger.

The sauces are sold at retailers such as Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, Albertsons, Target, Publix, HEB and Hy-Vee.

Users of TopstepX, the proprietary trading platform used by futures traders participating in Topstep’s funded trading programs, began reporting connectivity problems Tuesday morning, with outage-tracking service Downdetector logging a spike in user complaints starting at 9:54 a.m. Eastern time and the hashtag #TopstepxDown trending on social platform X as affected traders compared notes on the disruption.

Downdetector’s official account posted an alert shortly after the spike began, asking users how the outage was affecting them and directing them to submit detailed reports through the platform. As of the alert, the scope, cause and expected duration of the disruption had not been detailed in any official statement from Topstep.

For TopstepX users, an outage carries stakes that go beyond the typical inconvenience associated with most consumer app disruptions. TopstepX serves traders working through Topstep’s funded trading programs, commonly known in the industry as “combines,” in which traders attempt to demonstrate profitable trading performance on a simulated or funded account in order to qualify for access to larger amounts of trading capital. When the platform experiences technical issues during active trading hours, affected users can find themselves unable to close open positions, facing frozen or delayed price data, or locked out of their trading dashboard entirely, circumstances that can directly affect a trader’s profit and loss on open positions depending on how markets move while the platform remains inaccessible.

TopstepX operates as a rebranded version of a trading platform called ProjectX, according to industry reporting, though neither Topstep nor ProjectX has officially confirmed the exact nature of that relationship. The arrangement took on added significance last year, when multiple futures proprietary trading firms announced that ProjectX intended to end its services to third-party platforms, with Topstep positioned as the sole firm continuing to offer trading through ProjectX’s underlying infrastructure going forward.

Tuesday’s reported outage adds to a pattern of recurring technical disruptions that TopstepX has faced over the past year, a pattern that has previously generated significant frustration within the futures trading community. Following an earlier wave of repeated outages, Topstep acknowledged the problems directly in a message posted to the company’s Discord server. “Right now, we are not delivering the Ultimate Trading Experience we promised,” the company wrote at the time, addressing trader frustration over the disruptions. That acknowledgment came amid broader criticism from traders who said the company had responded inadequately to users who experienced financial losses tied to platform outages, with some describing the company’s response to affected traders as unsupportive.

Independent outage-tracking services have continued to log periodic complaints about TopstepX’s reliability throughout the year. Reports collected by various monitoring services have described symptoms including the platform failing to load properly, data feeds not connecting, and, in at least one previously documented case, price charts appearing to freeze entirely during active trading hours, with the platform’s internal clock continuing to advance even as displayed prices remained static at a level last updated hours earlier. Individual trader complaints logged through these services have also described being unable to close open trades or enter new positions during periods when the platform was experiencing technical difficulties.

Not every reported connectivity issue necessarily reflects a problem on Topstep’s own servers. Some independent monitoring services have noted that isolated user reports can stem from a trader’s own specific network connection or an outdated version of the trading application, rather than a broader, platform-wide outage affecting all users simultaneously. Those same services generally advise traders experiencing connection issues to check Topstep’s official status page or its community Discord channel for confirmation of whether a reported problem reflects a genuine, widespread service disruption before assuming a broader outage is underway.

As of the most recent available information, Topstep had not issued a detailed public statement specifically addressing Tuesday’s reported outage, and it remained unclear whether the disruption was affecting all users across all regions or was concentrated among a specific subset of traders. Affected users were directed to Topstep’s official channels, including its status page and Discord server, for the most current and authoritative updates on the situation, rather than relying solely on crowdsourced outage trackers, which can occasionally lag behind or imprecisely characterize the true scope of a still-developing technical issue.

Downdetector, the platform that first flagged Tuesday’s disruption, aggregates user-submitted problem reports alongside automated monitoring signals to identify spikes in complaints for a given service, generating alerts when reports exceed typical baseline levels. Given TopstepX’s history of recurring outages and the financial consequences those disruptions can carry for traders with open positions, Tuesday’s reported issues are likely to draw renewed scrutiny from the platform’s user base, many of whom have publicly expressed frustration over how previous outages were handled and resolved.

BATAVIA, ILL. – Aldi is expanding its own brands line of products into refrigerated prepared meals. The meals will be marketed under the Aldi brand, be available in single-serve and family-size formats and retail for $8 and $15, respectively.

“Our shoppers are looking for meals that fit into busy lives without sacrificing quality or stretching their budgets,” said Joan Kavanaugh, Vice President of National Buying, Aldi US. “That’s why we were thoughtful about how we entered this category. We’re evolving to meet our shoppers where they are by delivering fresh ingredients, great flavor and unbeatable value that they can always expect from Aldi.”

The meals will launch in select markets in October, Aldi said, and will be available nationwide by January 2027. The single-serve meals will be available in five flavors, including beef Bolognese spaghetti, beef brisket with macaroni and cheese, butter chicken and rice, a chicken burrito bowl and chicken fettuccine alfredo. The family-size meals will be available in two varieties, chicken and bacon macaroni and cheese and a meat lovers pizza. 

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IRVING, TEXAS — Mission Foods is unveiling two product innovations: protein chips and grain-free chips.

Mission’s protein chips are available in chile limon and jalapeño varieties, and the chips feature 10 grams of plant-based protein per serving.

The company’s grain-free chips are formulated with cassava flour, whole chia seeds and avocado oil. Varieties include sea salt and hint of lime.

“Protein and fiber are two things people are trying to get more of, and snacks are a great place to do it,” said Sathish Mohanraju, vice president of sales and marketing for Mission Foods.

The chips are available at Kroger locations nationwide, and the company expects to add further retail availability.  

WALTHAM, MASS. — Welch’s is launching a line of fruit spreads formulated with simple ingredients.

Welch’s Simply Natural Fruit Spreads contain five ingredients and are sweetened with cane sugar and honey. The product is free from high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavors, colors and preservatives, according to the company.

The fruit spreads are available in concord grape and strawberry flavors.

“Welch’s has had a place in family routines for generations, but today’s parents expect more from the foods they put on the table,” said Andrew Hartshorn, chief brand and innovation officer at Welch’s. “Simply Natural reflects that shift with five simple ingredients, including a touch of real honey, in a fruit spread families already know and love.”

The spreads are available at retailers nationwide.

The Liberal Democrats will fight the next general election on a promise to cut taxes for millions of workers, Sir Ed Davey has said in a speech to his party conference.

The Lib Dem leader said that if he gained power, he would raise the annual tax-free personal allowance to £15,000.

He would also raise the 40p income tax threshold from £50,270 to £56,000, in a £17bn package funded by the economic boost he says would come from the UK rejoining the EU single market and customs union.

He claimed the plan would mean a £680 cut for “most taxpayers” but it would not come into full effect until the fifth year of a Lib Dem government – potentially up to eight years away.

The announcement was greeted with sustained applause by Lib Dem MPs and activists in the Brighton conference centre.

The £12,570 income tax allowance was frozen by the Conservatives in 2021, resulting in more people being dragged into paying the tax, and Labour has so far resisted calls from trade unions and some of its MPs to unfreeze it.

The Lib Dems said they would raise the threshold to £15,000 a year, and increase the starting point for paying employee National Insurance (NI) to the same level.

At their conference earlier this month, Reform UK promised to increase the income tax personal allowance to £15,000 within 100 days if they won power.

Sir Ed told the Lib Dem faithful “the difference between us and Reform” is that “their tax cut is paid for through cruelty.”

He said “Reform’s figures show they’d pay for it by ripping £22bn of crucial support away from disabled people.”

Under the Lib Dem plan, based on research by think tank Frontier Economics, external, the economic boost from rejoining the single market would allow the party to spend £17bn on tax cuts by the end of the next Parliament.

The party says it would unfreeze personal allowances in the second year of a Lib Dem government, allowing them to rise with inflation, before bringing in big tax cuts in year five when the economic benefits of closer trading with the EU had kicked in.

However, the move would depend on the party being able to negotiate a closer trading arrangement with the EU in just 12 months.

Stuart Adam, of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank, told BBC Verify the Lib Dem package would cost “much more” than the £17bn quoted by the party.

Reform has estimated that its policy, to raise the starting threshold to £15,000 just for income tax, would cost £21bn by the fifth year.

The Lib Dems say their policy would be funded by an extra £27bn from its plans for a “growth and defence pact” with the EU.