After a record year in 2023, Eli Lilly (LLY) — fueled by the success of its GLP-1 drug, tirzepatide, used in Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for obesity — isn’t slowing down in the space, knowing competitors are nipping at its heels.
The two Lilly products are competing head-to-head with Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) Ozempic, for diabetes, and Wegovy, for obesity, for the first time in the market this year.
Mounjaro raked in nearly $3 billion through the first nine months of 2023 alone, up from just $200 million in all of 2022. With Zepbound’s approval for obesity in late 2023, the Street is expecting Lilly will have even more success.
Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks told Yahoo Finance at the annual JPMorgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco Monday that his company is already looking at how its GLP-1 products could impact other diseases, including congestive heart failure and sleep apnea.
“If you’re an investor and you’re looking at Lilly, and you’re thinking this is a Zepbound-Mounjaro story, I don’t think you’re reading it right. I think a bet on Lilly is to bet we can keep on inventing new things, not just sell the ones we’ve invented,” Ricks said.
Lilly’s stock has been on a climb since the COVID pandemic and is up more than 76% in the past year, outperforming the S&P 500, as well as competitor Novo.
How the company differentiates itself as a market leader in the GLP-1 space, as well as how it can maintain market share as new entrants get closer to approval, is part of the company’s story for 2024, Ricks said.
The goal, he said, is to work the R&D segment of the company at a pace that ensures the company doesn’t have to worry about its patent cliffs — because it is already working on the drugs to replace its own drugs.
“The way to do that is to launch products faster than you lose them. That’s how we grow. Everything we launch will go to zero some day — even Zepbound and Mounjaro,” Ricks said.
The company recently launched the website Lilly Direct, a direct-to-consumer site that cuts out going to the pharmacy, as a way to connect more directly with customers, following consumer feedback about frustrations with the current healthcare system. Zepbound is on the list of drugs at the new LillyDirect site; Mounjaro will be eventually be on the site, Ricks said.
Anjalee Khemlani is the senior health reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharma, insurance, care services, digital health, PBMs, and health policy and politics. Follow Anjalee on all social media platforms @AnjKhem.
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