Big Pharma Earnings Watch: Eli Lilly

Brand Name Giant ‘Smashes’ Wall Street Expectations After Price Hikes on Diabetes, Cancer Medications

New first quarter earnings reports released today from brand name giant Eli Lilly prove once again that repeated price hikes continue to support big time profits for Big Pharma. Eli Lilly bested Wall Street expectations after hiking prices on blockbuster on a diabetes treatment.

• Eli Lilly reported higher than expected quarterly profits.
• Revenue also rose 15 percent to $5.86 billion, beating expectations or $5.49 billion.
• The company’s boosted profits were led by top-selling diabetes drug Trulicity. Revenue of the drug rose 40 percent to $1.23 billion, surpassing analysts’ expectations.

• This year, Eli Lilly increased prices over a dozen times – including top-selling diabetes drug Trulicity.
• This past summer, Eli Lilly also jacked up the price of three of its cancer drugs – Cyramza, Alimta and Erbitux.
• Eli Lilly is one of three companies that control 99 percent of the insulin market. In 1996, a 10-milliliter vial of Humalog cost $21, but today, the same vial costs patients $275.

Stay tuned as we continue to monitor Q1 earnings announcements from brand name drug makers over the coming weeks. Check out the key takeaways from Q1 earnings calls from Johnson & Johnson and Roche HERE and HERE.