As the year comes to a close and the biopharma industry prepares for the year ahead, Eli Lilly has laid out some big plans for 2023.
Next year, Lilly plans to submit regulatory applications for five products plus initiate six phase 3 trials and present data from six other phase 3 trials, executives said in an investor presentation Tuesday. In all, several new approvals—plus market advances for diabetes launch Mounjaro—will help the company deliver more than $30 billion in sales next year, Lilly execs said.
The company's 2023 regulatory submissions are set to include empagliflozin for chronic kidney disease and donanemab for early Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S., Europe and Japan. Lilly also plans to submit tirzepatide for obesity in the U.S. and Europe and lebrikizumab for atopic dermatitis in Japan.
Aside from those products, Lilly is plotting filings for mantle cell lymphoma therapy pirtobrutinib.
The company sees the expected 2023 launches of donanemab, pirtobrutinib, mirikizumab and lebrikizumab as major growth drivers, along with its 2022 diabetes launch Mounjaro.
“We remain focused on executing across our business to deliver innovative medicines to address the most significant unmet patient needs,” CEO David Ricks said on a Tuesday call with analysts.
Meanwhile, clinical trials for retatrutide, Lilly’s GGG tri-agonist for obesity, and orforglipron, the company’s oral GLP-1 drug for Type 2 diabetes and obesity, are expected to kick off next year.
On a growth spree, Eli Lilly expects 2023 revenues to come in between $30.3 billion and $30.8 billion next year. The company said "volume increases" for its products will drive growth, helping offset lower sales from cancer drug Alimta and COVID-19 antibodies.
Aside from expected launches, many of Lilly's drugs are still “early in their life cycle,” Ricks said in a company statement.
Last year, Lilly pulled down $28.31 billion in revenue, a 15% increase from 2020. Lilly expects to generate between $28.5 billion and $29 billion in 2022.
Using Mounjaro as an indicator of interest in the GLP-1 class, the company said there is more opportunity for both short-term and long-term growth.
“We are committed to this class,” Michael Mason, Lilly's diabetes head, said on a Tuesday call with analysts. “We’re committed to helping people with diabetes and long-term term with obesity and we’re making the investments to make sure we have the supply to do that.”