Oct 24 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co reported
quarterly results below Wall Street expectations on Wednesday,
hurt by increased spending on research and a drop in sales as
its Zyprexa schizophrenia drug faced competition from cheaper
generics.
But the Indianapolis drugmaker affirmed its full-year profit
forecast, which would represent a 23 percent decline from 2011
results, due mostly to Zyprexa’s freefall.
The company said it had earned $1.33 billion, or $1.18 per
share, in the third quarter. That compared with $1.24 billion,
or $1.11 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding special items, Lilly earned 79 cents per share.
Analysts on average expected 83 cents, according to Thomson
Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue fell 11 percent to $5.44 billion, below Wall Street
estimates of $5.62 billion.
Lilly declined to cite reasons for the earnings and sales
shortfalls. But the company said it was making good progress
developing its array of experimental drugs needed to offset
plunging sales of Zyprexa and looming generic competition for
its Cymbalta depression medicine and Evista osteoporosis drug.
“We’re executing well according to our own metrics,” company
spokesman Mark Taylor said.
Lilly, unlike other large drugmakers, has refused to merge
with other companies as a way to soften the pain of generics and
get earnings back on track. Nor has it cut back on research to
prop up earnings.
Instead, Lilly boosted research spending by 5 percent to
$1.34 billion in the quarter.
Zyprexa sales fell 68 percent to $375 million. Sales of
Cymbalta, which is the company’s biggest product and which goes
generic in mid-2013, jumped 16 percent to $1.24 billion. Sales
of Evista, which faces generics in 2014, fell 9 percent to $247
million.
