• by Les Luchter , February 6, 2024

Weight-loss drugs are gaining.

Rapidly increasing sales for its Tirzepatide-based meds -- Mounjaro for Type 2 diabetes, also widely prescribed for weight loss, and Zepbound for obesity -- helped propel Eli Lilly to Q4 2023 global revenues of $9.35 billion, up 28% year-over-year. U.S. revenues were $6.46 billion, up 39% YoY. “

Two-year-old Mounjaro reaped $2.21 billion in global revenues for the quarter, a multifold increase over just $2.79 million in 2022. U.S. revenue in the quarter was $2.11 billion compared with $256.7 million in 2022, and represented an increase of 65% over the previous quarter.

Zepbound, which only debuted in pharmacies on Dec. 5, nonetheless managed to garner revenues of $175.8 million for its first month of availability.

The accounting of Tirzepatide’s health benefits isn’t done yet. Alongside its earnings, Lilly on Tuesday announced positive Phase 2 study results for the drug vis a vis fatty liver disease.  Other clinical studies for the medicine are underway for such areas as sleep apnea, chronic kidney disease, HfpEF (a type of heart failure), and cardiovascular disease.

Also in the company’s Type 2 diabetes portfolio, Lilly saw its quarterly revenues for 10-year-old Jardiance increase 30% Y0Y to $798.1 million. U.S. revenues were $468.9 million, up 29%. For Jardiance, Lilly gets royalties received from partner Boehringer Ingelheim’s sales.

All has not been rosy for Lilly on the Type 2 diabetes front, however, as another drug, the 10-year-old Trulicity, has been seeing declining revenues due largely to supply problems. Q4 global revenues decreased 14% YoY to $1.67 billion, with U.S. revenues down 18% to $1.26 billion.

During Tuesday’s earnings call with analysts, CFO Anat Ashkenazi said the product delays are expected to continue in the coming months, prompting Lilly to engage in communications with physicians outside the U.S. “not to start new patients on Trulicity.”

For the full year of 2023, Lilly’s global revenues were $34.1 billion, up 20% from 2023’s $28.6 billion. The company now anticipates 2024 revenues to be in the range of $40.4 billion to $41.6 billion, or an increase of about 20%.

Evan Seigerman, managing director of BMO Capital Markets, told Yahoo Finance Live on Tuesday that he expects "tens of billions" in potential sales this year for Zepbound and Mounjaro alone.

He also told Yahoo that with high demand for the two brands, Lilly -- "the leader in the obesity and diabetes space" --doesn't need "a ton of marketing" now.