Lilly Sees Surging Sales in Contrast to Obesity Rival Novo

Описание: Eli Lilly & Co. provided an upbeat sales forecast for the year Wednesday as strong demand for its weight loss drug cemented its position at the top of the obesity market.
The guidance was a sharp contrast to rival Novo Nordisk A/S, which warned investors Tuesday that its sales could drop as much as 13% this year on intensifying price competition in the weight loss market. Lilly, on the other hand, expects its sales to grow as much as 27% this year. Bloomberg's Sam Fazeli reports.

 Eli Lilly & Co. provided an upbeat sales forecast for the year Wednesday as strong demand for its weight loss drug cemented its position at the top of the obesity market.
The guidance was a sharp contrast to rival Novo Nordisk A/S, which warned investors Tuesday that its sales could drop as much as 13% this year on intensifying price competition in the weight loss market. Lilly, on the other hand, expects its sales to grow as much as 27% this year.
Lilly’s shares rose 8.3% at 9:32 a.m. in New York.
Weight-loss drugs are in high demand and Lilly and Novo are fending off competition from telehealth companies selling cheaper copycat versions. President Donald J. Trump has also made cutting drug costs a key priority and both drugmakers have struck deals to offer lower prices as a result.
Lilly’s in a comparatively stronger position than Novo because its blockbusters Mounjaro, for diabetes, and Zepbound, for obesity, have another decade of patent life. Lilly has also been more proactive in fighting off copycat competition. Meanwhile, Novo’s drugs will face generic competition as soon as this year in some countries.
“This is just more evidence they are dominating the category,” Mizuho’s Jared Holz said of Lilly’s obesity market position. “Novo is playing from behind and everyone knows it.”

Lilly’s full year sales will be $80 billion to $83 billion, Lilly said on Wednesday, beating the average Wall Street estimate of $77.7 billion. Lilly expects 2026 adjusted earnings in the range of $33.50 a share to $35 a share, compared to the $33.08 a share that analysts expected.
The drugmaker expects the obesity market to get even bigger this year after the Trump administration agreed to cover the drugs for more patients in Medicare, the government’s health program for the elderly.
Lilly is also waiting for approval of its weight loss pill, which could come as soon as April. Novo launched a weight loss pill this year that has gotten off to a strong start. In the four weeks since its launch, more than 170,000 patients have taken the pill, Novo Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday.
Lilly is prepared to move quickly to compete. The company has already produced billions of doses of its oral drug ahead of its launch. The company has said the lowest dose of the pill, if approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, will cost $149 a month.
The drugmaker is also selling a new multidose version of Zepbound, a move that helped Lilly secure its deal with Trump. Previously, Zepbound was available in the US in two different forms: a single-use vial and single-dose autoinjector that are thrown away each week after use. In a letter dated Jan. 20, the FDA gave Lilly the go-ahead to sell Zepbound in a device that contains a month’s worth of medication.



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