Eli Lilly has reported $45 billion in revenue in 2024, up 32% from the previous year’s $34.1 billion. Sales for its type 2 diabetes therapy Mounjaro (tirzepatide) were up by 124% to $11.5 billion, compared to $5.2 billion in 2023.
Following the results, the company’s stock was up by over 4.9% in trading today (6 February), trading at $882.85. This is in line with its competitor, Novo Nordisk, whose stock rose by 4.6% following the release of its 2024 results.
Lilly’s top grossing product was its glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonist, Mounjaro. Its tirzepatide product, which is approved as a weight loss treatment and is marketed as Zepbound, also generated $4.9 billion in sales in 2024. The company also expanded Zepbound’s label to treat moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea in December 2024.
The company took a shot at its competitor Novo Nordisk, and released data from a Phase III trial in which Zepbound showed a 47% greater relative weight loss compared to Wegovy (semaglutide). In December 2024, Lilly released data from a head-to-head open-label Phase IIIb SURMOUNT-5 trial (NCT05822830), which enrolled 751 obese or overweight participants with at least one of the comorbidities such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, obstructive sleep apnea, or cardiovascular disease.
At 72 weeks, the participants receiving Zepbound lost an average of 22.8 kg compared to a mean weight loss of 15kg seen in the Wegovy group. At least 25% body weight loss was seen in 31.6% of participants in the Zepbound group compared to 16.1% in the Wegovy group. The reported adverse events were similar for both groups, mainly mild to moderate gastrointestinal-related events.
Jardiance (empagliflozin), which is approved for cardiovascular risk reduction, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and type 2 diabetes, raked in $3.3 billion in revenue in 2024, up 22% from $2.7 billion in sales from the previous year. The sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor is developed and marketed in partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim.
Another of its GLP-1 agonist, Trulicity (dulaglutide) saw its revenue slide from $7.1 billion in 2023 to $5.2 billion in 2024. The drug is approved as a once weekly treatment for type 2 diabetes, and is used to reduce major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in adults with established cardiovascular disease. Lilly mainly attributed the decline in sales to “competitive dynamic”.
The high grossing drugs, which are not part of its diabetes portfolio, included its breast cancer therapy, Verzenio (abemaciclib) and Taltz (ixekizumab), a monoclonal antibody treatment for autoimmune disorders. Verzenio sales increased by 37% in 2024 to $5.3 billion, compared to $3.86 billion in 2023. Revenue for Taltz soared to $3.2 billion in 2024, up 18% from 2023.
