Eli Lilly profit boosted by antidepressant sales

Eli Lilly reported asecond-quarter profit that was boosted by higher sales for the antidepressant Cymbalta, which helped trim losses from generic competition to its former top-seller, Zyprexa.

Net income at Eli Lilly, which employs 700 people in Ireland, declined 23% to €762m, Lilly said. “If you take Zyprexa out of the equation, our underlying sales grew 8 %,” chief executive John Lechleiter said.

Cheaper copies of the schizophrenia therapy Zyprexa came on the market last year, and exclusivity ends in 2013 for Cymbalta, now the company best-seller. Lilly is counting on a pipeline of experimental drugs, including the osteoporosis treatment Forteo and blood-thinner Effient, to help fuel sales after 2014.

Revenue overall dropped 10% to € 4.6bn, Lilly reported. The company also said it plans to bring research and development costs to 18% to 20% of revenue after 2014, and to draw selling general and administrative expenses to 30% of revenue.

Lilly rose 2.5% to $43.02 in early morning trading in New York. The shares gained 1% so far this year.

The dollar’s strength reduced sale values by about2 percentage points for the company, which gets at least half of its revenue from outside the US

Sales of Cymbalta helped make up for some of the drop in revenue from Zyprexa. Cymbalta revenue increased 22% to €1bn, while Zyprexa fell 73% to €313 million. Revenue for Lilly’s animal health business rose 32% to €422 million.

Lechleiter pointed to Forteo, Effient and Alimta as other sources of growth.

Bloomberg