Eli Lilly has posted a 11% decline in earnings for the second quarter, but sales were up 9%, thanks again to the performances of the antidepressant/fibromyalgia blockbuster Cymbalta and the lung cancer drug Alimta.
Net income was $1.20 billion, hit by higher marketing and administrative expenses, plus costs associated with the company’s recently-announced diabetes collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim. Sales came in at $6.25 billion.
Revenues from Cymbalta (duloxetine) were up 16% to $1.00 billion, while the cancer drug Alimta (pemetrexed) increased 11% to $613.4 million. Lilly’s best-selling drug continues to be the antipsychotic Zyprexa (olanzapine), which had turnover of $1.40 billion, up 12%.
However that figure is going to take a battering soon. Zyprexa will lose patent exclusivity in most of Europe and the USA in September and October respectively and while Lilly says "it is difficult to predict the precise timing and magnitude" of the impact on Zyprexa sales, the introduction of generics will result in "a rapid and severe decline".
Of Lilly’s other products, the insulin products Humalog and Humulin increased 16% and 18% respectively, to $586.9 million and $311.8 million. The osteoporosis drug Evista (raloxifene), which is also approved for the prevention of breast cancer for certain postmenopausal women, had revenues of $263.5 million, up 2%, while sales of Lilly’s other osteoporosis drug Forteo (teriparatide) increased 10% to $231.0 million. The erectile dysfunction drug Cialis (tadalafil) rose 14% to $477.2 million.
The chemotherapy Gemzar (gemcitabine) sank 62% to $112.4 million, due to generic competition and US sales contributed just $17.2 million, down 91%. Lilly’s share of revenues from the type 2 diabetes treatment Byetta (exenatide), which is sold in partnership with Amylin, reached $103.9 million, down 12% as a result of “competitive pressures in the US and European markets.
The cancer agent Erbitux (cetuximab) brought in $100.1 million, up 12%, while worldwide sales of the bloodthinner Effient (prasugrel) which is partnered with Daiichi Sankyo, came in at $71.7 million, up from $56.3 million in the first quarter of 2011.
John Lechleiter, Lilly's chief executive, said despite the negative impact of generic versions of Gemzar, the results reflect "the solid performance of many of our marketed products, as well as important investments we are making to expand our commercial opportunities". He made special mention of the performance of Cymbalta, Cialis and Lilly's insulins and acknowledged that "exchange rates have also contributed to favourable sales comparisons".
