Rising Mounjaro sales propel Lilly to new heights

Indianapolis, Indiana – Nearly $1 billion in sales, or more than $200 million more than what Wall Street anticipated, were generated by Eli Lilly’s diabetic medication Mounjaro, which is frequently used for weight loss.

Tuesday, when Lilly reported that Mounjaro sales had increased by more than 70% since the first quarter to $980 million, the company’s shares climbed 17% to a record high. Nearly all of that was imported, and the business said that high demand was causing delays in fulfilling orders for some doses.

According to FactSet, analysts projected that the medicine would generate around $740 million during the quarter.

Executives predicted on Tuesday that limited supplies will cause some localized Ozempic shortages through the end of the year. Lilly is expanding at one location in North Carolina and constructing a new production facility there.

Mounjaro was given approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at the end of the second quarter of last year to treat type 2 diabetes, but analysts believe it has a lot of promise in the expanding market for weight-loss medications, for which doctors have already been prescribing it off-label.

Regulators are presently deliberating whether to add weight loss to the list of permitted uses. Injectable therapy, according to Lilly, helped type 2 diabetics who were overweight or obese lose up to 16% of their body weight, or more than 34 pounds, over the course of roughly 17 months.

If authorized, Lilly’s medication would go up against Novo Nordisk’s well-known weight-loss drug Wegovy, which is also marketed as Ozempic to treat diabetes. This surge of new choices is revolutionizing the way that obesity is treated.

Separately, Novo said on Tuesday that Wegovy reduced the risk of significant heart problems by 20% according to preliminary findings from a sizable, late-stage study. Better than expected, actually.

The Danish pharmaceutical company claimed that persons who were overweight or obese and had established cardiovascular disease but not type 2 diabetes reduced their risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart disease-related fatalities by receiving weekly injections of the highest dose of the drug known generically as semaglutide.

Results from the trial, which involved more than 17,000 participants in 41 nations, may be encouraging for all medications in Wegovy’s class since they may increase the likelihood that insurers and other payers of medical expenses will cover them, according to Leerink analyst David Risinger in a research note.

According to physicians, it may also open the door to broader applications beyond weight loss.

Tirzepatide, the generic name for Lilly’s medicine, has been expected by analysts to become one of the most successful pharmaceutical products ever, with annual sales exceeding $50 billion.

Mounjaro sales in the most recent second quarter helped Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co. perform better than anticipated.

Overall, Lilly’s profit increased 85% to more than $1.76 billion in the second quarter. To $8.31 billion, revenue increased 28%. The adjusted earnings per share were $2.11.

On average, analysts projected earnings of $1.98 per share on revenue of $6.86 billion.

In midday trade, Lilly shares increased by more than 17%, or over $80, to $533.83. Larger indexes decreased.

The previous record high for the stock was $469.87, which was achieved by Lilly at the end of June.