Here's an interesting pitch: what if you could treat insatiable hunger without the gastrointestinal drama that comes with today's weight-loss blockbusters? That's the promise behind Aardvark Therapeutics Inc. (AARD), a clinical-stage biotech developing small-molecule therapeutics designed to suppress hunger for rare metabolic diseases and obesity.

The company's lead candidate, ARD-101, is an oral drug currently in Phase 3 development for hyperphagia associated with Prader-Willi Syndrome. If you're not familiar, PWS is a rare genetic disorder characterized by relentless, insatiable hunger that leads to severe complications. It's a condition with limited treatment options and a patient population desperately in need of effective therapies.

This week, Aardvark announced it dosed the first patient in Australia in its Phase 3 HERO clinical trial evaluating ARD-101. The company has also received regulatory clearance to begin enrolling patients at clinical trial sites in Canada and the United Kingdom, expanding the trial's global footprint.

The Analyst Case

William Blair just initiated coverage on Aardvark Therapeutics with an Outperform rating, and the firm's thesis is straightforward: this is a massive opportunity hiding in plain sight.

Thanks to strong enrollment in the United States and steady international progress, the HERO trial is on track to deliver topline data results in the third quarter of 2026. That's the timeline investors should circle on their calendars.

According to William Blair's estimates, the global total addressable market for PWS treatments sits around $10 billion, and there's currently only one approved therapy on the market. Analyst Andy Hsieh argues that this opportunity alone justifies the company's current valuation framework. In other words, even if nothing else works out, the PWS program could be worth the price of admission.

Beyond PWS: The Obesity Play

But here's where things get really interesting. Aardvark isn't putting all its eggs in the PWS basket. The company is also developing ARD-201, a planned fixed-dose combination of ARD-101 with a DPP-4 inhibitor. This candidate is being tested in two separate trials designed to address some key limitations of currently marketed GLP-1 therapies for obesity and obesity-related conditions.

William Blair believes ARD-201's addressable market could reach at least $100 billion. The drug is being positioned as an oral, more tolerable alternative to GLP-1 receptor agonists. Aardvark is investigating both maintenance and induction settings, which gives investors multiple shots on goal. If ARD-201 can deliver weight loss without the nausea and gastrointestinal side effects that plague many GLP-1 users, it could carve out a meaningful slice of the obesity market.

The Valuation Disconnect

William Blair points to what it calls an "appreciable disconnect" between Aardvark's current market value of $304 million and the potential of its lead program, ARD-101. That's analyst-speak for "this stock looks cheap relative to what we think it could be worth."

From a balance sheet perspective, Aardvark reported cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments of $126.4 million as of its most recent quarter. Management believes this cash position is sufficient to fund projected operations into 2027, which should carry the company through the critical Phase 3 readout and beyond.

AARD Price Action: Aardvark Therapeutics shares were down 6.28% at $14.63 at the time of publication on Friday.