Eli Lilly's Zepbound sales, Pfizer wants in on weight loss drugs, AbbVie's big deal: Pharma news round up

Plus, knockoff weight loss drugs are having a moment — but Eli Lilly isn’t worried

Updated November 1, 2024

Eli Lilly $LLY CEO David Ricks told investors this week that the sale of cheaper, knockoff versions of the company’s blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound was not dragging down sales. Pfizer $PFE sales rose 31% to $17.7 billion in the third quarter of 2024, driven by a surge in demand for the pharma giant’s COVID-19 medications. AbbVie announced Monday that it is buying Aliada Therapeutics, along with its lead drug candidate ALIA-1758 — an experimental antibody being tested for treating Alzheimer’s disease, for $1.4 billion.

Check out those stories and more pharmaceutical news highlights from this week.

Eli Lilly $LLY (LLY) CEO David Ricks said the sale of cheaper, off-brand versions of the company’s blockbuster weight loss drug isn’t having a “financial impact” on the pharma giant.

Sales of Eli Lilly $LLY’s (LLY) blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound are still booming, but just not at the level Wall Street was anticipating.

Pfizer $PFE (PFE) offered up some more details on its weight loss drug pipeline on Tuesday during a call with investors after it posted its third-quarter earnings report. It joins several other pharmaceutical companies working to introduce their own incretin weight loss meds, first popularized by Ozempic, in an effort to disrupt the weight loss duopoly currently held by Novo Nordisk (NVO) and Eli Lilly $LLY.

Pfizer $PFE (PFE) reported its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, beating Wall Street expectations and raising its full-year guidance thanks to a surge in demand for the pharma giant’s COVID-19 medications.

AbbVie (ABBV) announced Monday that it is buying Aliada Therapeutics for $1.4 billion. The deal includes Aliada’s lead drug candidate ALIA-1758, an experimental antibody being tested for treating Alzheimer’s disease.