Vivani Medical Announces Promising Preclinical Weight Loss Data For Its Semaglutide Implant: Retail Sentiment Soars

Vivani Medical, Inc. (VANI), on Wednesday, announced promising preclinical data for its semaglutide implant in development for weight management in overweight patients.

NPM-139 is a small, subdermal semaglutide implant. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in popular weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic or Wegovy.

Vivani Medical CEO Adam Mendelsohn said products containing semaglutide generated $25 billion in 2024, and demand for these products continues to soar.

“Since over half of these patients regularly miss doses as indicated by real-world medication adherence data, we believe that there is a tremendous opportunity for a more convenient delivery option that will eliminate missed doses and thereby improve real-world health outcomes,” he said.

The company said on Wednesday that a single administration of the implant in healthy rats resulted in 20% lower body weight through a 91-day treatment period as compared to a control group that received a sham implant.

NPM-139 is being initially developed as a twice-yearly implant but has the potential benefit of once-yearly administration, the company said.

The company also said it recently successfully implanted an initial group of human subjects with NPM-115, a miniature, ultra long-acting exenatide implant aimed at overweight persons.

Data from the study of NPM-115 is expected to be available mid-2025. The study is also expected to pave the way for the development of NPM-139, the company said.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment about Vivani rose from ‘bullish’ to ‘extremely bullish’ territory while message volume jumped from ‘low’ to ‘high’ in the past 24 hours.

VANI's Sentiment Meter and Message Volume as of 1:55 p.m. ET on March 26, 2025 | Source: Stocktwits

A Stocktwits commended the company’s idea of implants, taking out the need for daily pills or injections.

Brokerage H.C. Wainwright said on Wednesday that the preclinical data validates the versatility of the company’s proprietary NanoPortal implant technology while reiterating a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares with a price target of $4.

A Stocktwits user, however, highlighted the company’s low cash. As of Sept. 30, 2024, Vivani had cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash totaling $21 million.

VANI shares traded nearly 2% higher on Wednesday afternoon. The stock is down over 6% this year and by over 40% in the past 12 months. 

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