Lilly profit hit by Covid-19 drug development costs, weak demand

[INDIANAPOLIS] Eli Lilly and Co fell short of analysts' expectations for third-quarter profit on Tuesday due to increased costs to develop Covid-19 therapies and lower demand for some its major drugs, including diabetes treatment Trulicity.

Lilly is one of the handful of companies racing to develop a treatment for Covid-19 and has sought emergency use authorisation for its antibody treatment for mild to moderate patients as well as its arthritis drug baricitinib.

The results come a day after the company said no additional hospitalised Covid-19 patients would receive its treatment as data from a government-run trial suggested that the therapy was unlikely to help these patients recover.

The trial was paused earlier in the month due to safety concerns. The drugmaker said on Tuesday other trials of the coronavirus antibody therapy, bamlanivimab, remain on track.

It said more than 1,000 volunteers had been dosed in its clinical trial studying bamlanivimab as a monotherapy and in combination with another drug in people recently diagnosed with Covid-19 in a non-hospitalised setting.

Lilly said it expects 2020 Covid-19 research and development expense to be roughly US$400 million, sending its shares down 4 per cent before the opening bell. Overall operating expenses increased 9 per cent to US$3.04 billion in the third quarter.

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Excluding items, the drugmaker earned US$1.54 per share, below analysts' average estimate of US$1.71 per share, according to IBES estimates from Refinitiv.

Revenue rose 5 per cent to US$5.74 billion in the quarter ended Sept 30, but came in below the average estimate of US$5.88 billion.

Lilly said it still anticipates 2020 revenue to be between US$23.7 billion and US$24.2 billion.

The company cautioned that achieving the higher end of the range would likely require the inclusion of moderate revenue from potential Covid-19 treatments, which is possible but not certain at this point.

REUTERS