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Demand for Lilly’s COVID-19 antibody therapies, bamlanivimab and etesevimab, rose during the last three months as the spread of the Delta variant fueled a sharp rise in infections and hospitalizations in areas with low vaccination rates. The antibody treatments brought in $217 million in the third quarter, up from $149 million in the second quarter.
The U.S. government in September bought 388,000 additional doses of Lilly’s etesevimab, of which Lilly said it shipped about 250,000 doses in the three months ended Sept. 30.
The company said it now expected COVID-19 therapies to bring in about $1.3 billion in sales in 2021, up from an earlier forecast of between $1.0 billion and $1.1 billion.
Lilly’s shares rose about 1% in pre-market trade. The stock is up about 45% so far this year, largely bolstered by bets it will land another blockbuster with a new Alzheimer’s drug that has yet to win regulatory approval.
But the stock is down about 12% from a mid-August record high amid doubts over how well that drug will sell, price pressures faced by its top-selling drugs, and uncertainty over how new coronavirus variants and vaccinations will affect its COVID-19 therapy sales.
The Indianapolis-based group raised its forecast for this year’s adjusted earnings per share to between $$7.95 and $8.05 from an earlier $7.80 to $8.00 range.
Excluding one-off items, Eli Lilly earned $1.94 per share, missing analyst estimates of $1.98 per share, on higher research and development expenses including those for the COVID-19 drugs.
