Eli Lilly and Company has registered  operating profit growth of 3 per cent during the first quarter ended March 2013 and its net sales remained flat at $5.6 billion. Worldwide revenue was flat as growth in key products offset lower Zyprexa revenue following patent expirations. Cymbalta revenue increased 19 per cent while Cialis increased 11 per cent. Total revenue in the US increased 2 per cent to $3.137 billion due primarily to increased prices, partially offset by lower volume primarily due to the loss of patent exclusivity for Zyprexa. Total revenue outside the US decreased by 2 per cent to $2.465 billion.

After the provision of $495 million related to the transfer to Amylin of exenatide commercial rights outside of the US its net income went up by 53 per cent to $1,548 million from $1,011 million in the same quarter of last year. Expense controls resulted in lower SG&A, offsetting growth in R&D expense.

First quarter earnings per share grew to $1.42.  The company stated that 2013 earnings per share reconfirmed to be in the range of $4.10 to $4.25..

“Lilly delivered solid financial results in the first quarter of 2013 despite numerous headwinds, as growth in several key products and regions offset the post-patent decline in Zyprexa, a weaker Japanese yen and a slowdown in parts of our animal health business," said Dr John C Lechleiter, Lilly's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We also continued to maintain strict expense controls this quarter. Most importantly, we have remained focused on advancing our late-stage pipeline, and are pleased to announce that we have received Fast Track designation from the FDA and have initiated a rolling submission for ramucirumab. Together with the recent submission of empagliflozin, these are the first two of what could be up to five US regulatory submissions this year."

During the quarter, the company and its partner, Boehringer Ingelheim, submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) for the investigational sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor empagliflozin to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults. In addition, the European Medicines Agency accepted for review a marketing authorization application for empagliflozin. The company received Fast Track designation from the FDA and initiated a rolling submission for ramucirumab as monotherapy treatment in second-line gastric cancer.

The company initiated a significant reduction in its US Bio-Medicines sales force to adapt to changing customer requirements, evolutions in the US health care environment and the upcoming loss of exclusivity for Cymbalta and Evista. Substantially all of the severance costs associated with this action were recognized in the fourth quarter of 2012. The company will also implement a small increase in its diabetes sales force to prepare for the planned launches of late-stage pipeline products.

In the first quarter of 2013, worldwide total revenue was $5.602 billion, which was flat compared with the first quarter of 2012. An increase of 4 percent due to higher prices was offset by decreases of 3 percent due to lower volume and 1 percent due to the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates. The decrease in volume was driven primarily by the loss of patent exclusivity for Zyprexa in most major markets, partially offset by volume gains for certain other products.