{"id":251068,"date":"2025-10-30T22:58:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T22:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/251068\/"},"modified":"2025-10-30T22:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T22:58:15","slug":"weight-loss-drugs-power-eli-lillys-earnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/251068\/","title":{"rendered":"Weight-loss drugs power Eli Lilly\u2019s earnings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/p>\n

Sales of Eli Lilly\u2019s weight-loss drugs more than doubled as they reached new global markets in the most recent quarter, underscoring the value of the blockbuster medicines for the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n

For the three months ending September 30, Lilly<\/a> reported on Thursday that sales of its weight-loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound jumped 109 per cent and 185 per cent, respectively, from the same period a year ago. <\/p>\n

Demand for the drugs rocketed outside the US, Lilly said, often in new markets where they were not previously offered. For Mounjaro, which treats diabetes, sales abroad more than tripled, the company reported. Zepbound, which treats obesity, was first approved in Europe in April 2024 and did not have foreign sales in the third quarter last year. <\/p>\n

The two drugs generated a combined $10.1bn in the quarter. Lilly said stronger demand globally for weight-loss drugs offset lower prices. <\/p>\n

The significance of weight-loss drugs for the pharmaceutical sector<\/a> was further highlighted by an unexpected battle between rivals Pfizer and Novo Nordisk over a small biotech that is making an obesity drug. <\/p>\n

Novo on Thursday bid $9bn for Metsera<\/a>, after Pfizer in September agreed to buy the company for $7.3bn. Pfizer, which does not have a weight-loss drug, blasted Novo\u2019s offer as an attempt \u201cto circumvent antitrust laws\u201d and threatened legal action.<\/p>\n

Lilly\u2019s shares closed 3.8 per cent higher on Thursday. Novo\u2019s shares dropped 3.6 per cent and Pfizer\u2019s were unchanged.<\/p>\n

Among investors, \u201cthere was some obesity-investment fatigue earlier in the year\u201d, said Evan Seigerman, head of healthcare research at BMO. But now, after Lilly\u2019s results and the Novo-Pfizer battle, \u201cinvestors are on board\u201d.<\/p>\n

Lilly also increased its 2025 earnings guidance to $21.80 to $22.50 a share. The company had previously predicted a range of $20.85 to $22.10 a share.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Lilly said Zepbound would be sold directly in Walmart pharmacies for $349 to $499 a month. Next year, Lilly is expected to start selling a weight-loss pill. The company expects to submit the drug, Orforglipron, to regulators in the months ahead. <\/p>\n

Still, Lilly faces headwinds from President Donald Trump. Pfizer is the only US drugmaker to announce a pricing deal with Trump. Shares of Lilly and other drugmakers jumped in late September after Pfizer\u2019s deal with the president. But a month later Lilly still has not reached an agreement.<\/p>\n

Recommended<\/p>\n

\"Montage<\/a><\/p>\n

Separately on Thursday, drugmaker Merck said its net income increased more than 80 per cent year on year to $5.8bn in the last quarter, as its top-selling cancer drug hit record sales. Revenue rose 4 per cent to $17.3bn.<\/p>\n

Sales of Merck\u2019s blockbuster drug Keytruda rose 10 per cent to $8.1bn in the three months to the end of September, up from $7.4bn from the same period a year ago.<\/p>\n

Merck also edged up its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings, predicting $8.93 to $8.98 a share, from its previous forecast of $8.87 to $8.97 a share. Wall Street expects $8.91 a share.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":{"0":"post-251068","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}