Lilly's Mounjaro, Zepbound sales surge, widening lead over Novo Nordisk

By Mrinalika Roy and Mariam Sunny

Aug 5 (Reuters) - Sales of Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Mounjaro injectable weight-loss and diabetes drugs soared during the 2nd quarter, easy beating Wall Street estimates and widening the spread with Danish rival Novo Nordisk.

The trillion-dollar ‌company besides posted better-than-expected quarterly results and raised its full-year gross forecast, and its shares jumped implicit 5% successful aboriginal ‌trading.

The beardown results are apt to reassure investors that request for Lilly's GLP-1 treatments remains resilient contempt pricing unit and intensifying contention from Novo, which launched an oral mentation ​of its Wegovy weight-loss cause successful the U.S. earlier this year.

Sales of diabetes cause Mounjaro roseate 91% to $9.94 billion, beating analysts' estimates, portion obesity cause Zepbound brought successful $4.93 billion, compared with expectations of $4.73 billion. The 2 drugs accounted for 64.7% of Lilly's gross successful the latest reported quarter.

Strong request lifted income volumes crossed planetary markets, with Mounjaro driving maturation extracurricular the United States and some Mounjaro and Zepbound boosting U.S. sales, though little realized prices ‌partly offset those gains, Lilly said. Mounjaro is ⁠the marque sanction utilized for some value nonaccomplishment and diabetes extracurricular the U.S.

By comparison, Novo's diabetes and obesity portfolio generated astir 59.3 cardinal Danish crowns ($9.16 billion) successful quarterly sales, led by Ozempic and Wegovy injections.

The U.S. authorities ⁠last period launched a aviator programme allowing Americans to entree obesity medicines done the Medicare programme for radical aged 65 and older oregon with disabilities that volition connection the medications for a monthly co-pay of $50.

The expanded Medicare entree should enactment U.S. growth, with astir 60% to 70% of those successful the programme ​expected ​to beryllium patients caller to the drugs, said Kevin Gade, main operating serviceman ​at Lilly capitalist Bahl & Gaynor.

The marketplace continues to underappreciate the ‌strength of Mounjaro request extracurricular the U.S. and its longer-term planetary maturation potential, helium added.

Lilly and Novo predominate the lucrative obesity market. Lilly surpassed a $1 trillion valuation past year, portion Novo's recently launched Wegovy pill is rapidly gaining traction successful its U.S. rollout.

The planetary marketplace for obesity drugs reached $66 cardinal successful 2025, according to information steadfast IQVIA. Analysts expect it to deed implicit $100 cardinal annually by 2030 successful the U.S. alone.

Citi analysts said the outlook for the remainder of the twelvemonth would beryllium connected measurement growth, driven by expanded Medicare entree and sustained planetary request ‌for Mounjaro.