(News Bulletin 247) – Sales of Zepbound, its flagship treatment against obesity, exceeded $1 billion in the second quarter. The American laboratory Eli Lilly raises its annual outlook, gaining points against its Danish rival Novo Nordisk.

Coincidence or not, Eli Lilly announces its quarterly results the day after those of the Danish Novo Nordisk, its closest rival in the battle to capture the lucrative market for obesity treatments.

And the American group confirms that it is also in the race to take advantage of the boom in antidiabetic and especially anti-obesity drugs. While Novo Nordisk owns the flagship treatments Ozempic and Wegovy, Eli Lilly has in its ranks the antidiabetic Mounjaro as well as its version intended to treat obesity, Zepbound, approved at the end of 2023 by the American health authority.

Zepbound Sells Over $1 Billion

This treatment is making Eli Lilly’s days bright, with it revealing better-than-expected second-quarter results on Thursday. Between April and the end of June, Eli Lilly generated revenues of $11.30 billion, up 36% year-on-year.

Over the period, Zepbound’s sales have already exceeded the symbolic billion dollar mark, at 1.24 billion dollars, crushing the consensus which had expected revenues of 819 million dollars. Mounjaro, however, remains the drug that contributed the most to revenues, at 3.09 billion dollars, compared to 979 million euros a year earlier.

Earnings per share, the most closely watched indicator on Wall Street, soared 86% year-on-year to $3.92 from $2.11 a year earlier.

Quoted by Bloomberg, Mizuho’s Jared Holz noted that it was “incredibly rare” to see a large-cap pharmaceutical company’s results as good as Eli Lilly’s this quarter.

Raised prospects

The craze for these anti-obesity drugs has allowed Eli Lilly to significantly raise its outlook for the whole of 2024. The American laboratory is now counting on revenues of between 45.4 billion and 46.6 billion dollars, compared to a previous forecast of between 40.4 billion and 41.6 billion dollars.

Adjusted earnings are expected to be between $16.10 and $16.60 per share, compared with a previous forecast of $13.50 and $14.

On Wall Street, Eli Lilly shares are expected to rise sharply by 13% following these announcements. The performance is all the more welcomed since its competitor Novo Nordisk had strongly disappointed on Wednesday.

The Danish laboratory had lost 6.7% on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, punished for having missed expectations concerning the sales of Wegovy, its anti-obesity treatment between April and the end of June. To make matters worse, this disappointment on the sales of Wegovy had been accompanied by a lowering of the operating profit target for 2024.

But this Thursday, Novo Nordisk rose by 4.5% this Thursday, in the wake of the excellent publication of its American rival.