Eli Lilly and Company has posted impressive net profit growth of 60 per cent during the third quarter ended September 2015 to US$ 800 million as against $501 million on account of inclusion of Novartis animal health and higher volume for several products. Further, reduction in R&D expenditure and marketing spending assisted well. Its revenues increased only by 1.7 per cent to $4,960 million from $4,876 million. EPS worked out to $0.75 as compared to $0.47 in the last period. Its operating income increased by $961 million from $562 million.
Dr John C Lechleiter, chairman, president and CEO, said, “We are pleased with our strong third-quarter results, which reflect the ongoing actions we are taking to grow revenue and increase productivity while we are replenishing and advancing our pipeline with an array of new, innovative therapies. Despite headwinds from foreign exchange rates, we are benefiting from recent launches as well as our acquisition of Novartis animal health earlier this year.”
“This quarter, we had higher sales volume for several key products, including recently launched Cyramaza and Trulicity. We also launched several new products in various global markets, including Synjardy in the US for type 2 diabetes. Promising pipeline momentum continued with encouraging news for baricitinib and abemaciclib, while Jardiance reported positive cardiovascular outcomes. Finally, we continued to create new collaborations and pursue smaller-scale acquisitions to bolster our pipeline and our product portfolio.”
The company launched Basaglar, a basal insulin product in Japan, the UK, Germany and other European markets. Basaglar is part of the Boehringner Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Co diabetes alliance. It also launched Trulicity in Japan as a treatment for type 2 diabetes. It received US FDA approval for synjardy tablets for the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes. The FDA granted breakthrough therapy designation to abemaciclib or patients with refractory hormone-receptor-positive advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
Its revenue in US increased by 14 per cent to $2,438 million due to higher volume, partially offset by lower prices. The US price decrease was driven by a lower price for the Evista authorized generic, which more than offset higher prices for other products. Revenue outside the US decreased by 9 per cent to $2,422 million.
For the first half ended September 2015, Eli Lilly's net sales increased slightly by 0.6 per cent to $14,583 million from $14,494 million in the similar period of last year. It net profit, however, declined by 1.6 per cent to $1,930 million from $1,962 million. The sales of major products like Humalog, Alimta, Cymbalta, Zyprexa and Humulin declined during the first half.