Market Currents

• Thursday, December 10, 2009

• 09:11 AM Eli Lilly (LLY) -2.2% premarket after updating investors on 2010, with in-line EPS projections of $4.65-4.74. But Lilly failed to give any hint of how its plans to deal with patent expirations on its biggest drugs (Zyprexa, Cymbalta, Gemzar, Evista) between 2011 and 2014. COE John Lechleiter did have this to say: "Many companies are seeking to lower risk by reducing their focus on innovative medicines; this is not our path." Comment!
• 09:00 AM Premarket gainers: ONTY +10%. ING +4%. APC +4%. NLST +3%. FACT +3%. BCS +3%. IOC +3%. GFI +3%.
  Losers: SIGA -13%. IT -8%. CIEN -3%. LLY -3%. Comment!

• Wednesday, October 21, 2009

• 07:59 AM Eli Lilly (LLY): Q3 EPS of $1.20 beats by $0.18. Revenue of $5.56B (+6.8%) vs. $5.41B. Gross margin as a percent of total revenue increased by 3.7% to 81.1%. Shares +2.1% premarket. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable pre-market earnings: AAI, AMR, APD, ATI, BA, CAL, ELN, FLIR, FCX, GENZ, HCBK, KEY, LLY, MAN, MO, MS, NITE, NOC, NTRS, OMC, PENN, STJ, USB, USG, WFC Comment!

• Monday, September 14, 2009

• 09:09 AM Eli Lilly (LLY) is aiming to put in place $1B of cost savings by the end of 2011, including cutting its global headcount by around 13%. The company confirms 2009 EPS guidance of $4.14-4.24. Shares +0.4% premarket. 1 Comment

• Sunday, August 30, 2009

• 17:45 PM AstraZeneca's (AZN) experimental anticlotting heart drug Brilinta outperforms $8.6B seller Plavix (SNY, BMY) by 16% in a Phase III study released this weekend, while remarkably showing no increase in bleeding complications. Effient, a new contender from Eli Lilly (LLY), also outdid Plavix, but at the price of increased bleeding risk. 1 Comment

• Wednesday, August 19, 2009

• 08:21 AM Eli Lilly (LLY) abandons osteoporosis drug arzoxifene after it misses several key goals. The results are a setback for Lilly, which was hoping arzoxifene could succeed blockbuster Evista when it loses patent exclusivity in 2014. Comment!

• Tuesday, August 18, 2009

• 07:16 AM Eli Lilly's (LLY) method-of-use patent for cancer drug Gemzar, set to expire in 2013, is invalidated in a case brought by Sun Pharmaceutical. Lilly says the decision won't impact its compound patent for Gemzar, which expires in 2010. Gemzar had 2008 global sales of $1.7B. Comment!

• Wednesday, July 22, 2009

• 06:45 AM Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY): Q2 EPS of $1.12 beats by $0.10. Revenue of $5.3B (+0.8%) in-line. Raises FY '09 EPS guidance to $4.20-4.30 vs. $4.00-4.25 previous guidance. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Wednesday's open: AAI, APD, ATI, BA, BK, DAL, ENTG, GENZ, GNTX, HST, ITW, KEY, LLY, MO, MS, NITE, NTRS, PDS, PEP, PFE, SEIC, STI, STJ, SU, TCB, USB, USG, WFC, WHR Comment!

• Friday, July 10, 2009

• 17:03 PM The FDA clears the blood thinner prasugrel, a drug developed by Eli Lilly (LLY) and Daiichi Sankyo, to be sold under the name Effient. The drug is expected to challenge Plavix, the world's No. 2 drug in sales, made by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY) and Sanofi-Aventis. After hours: [[LLY]] +0.5%; [[BMY]] -0.6%. Comment!

• Friday, June 12, 2009

• 08:07 AM Eli Lilly (LLY) urged doctors to prescribe antipsychotic drug Zyprexa for elderly patients with dementia, despite evidence the drug didn’t work for such patients, and 'ghostwrote' medical articles to market the drug. Lilly now faces lawsuits from insurers, pension funds and 12 states over its marketing practices. Comment!

• Tuesday, May 26, 2009

• 09:12 AM Talk of pharma industry consolidation is nothing new, but recent moves by Pfizer (PFE) and Eli Lilly (LLY) signal a growing preference for emerging-market companies over domestic firms. 1 Comment

• Monday, April 20, 2009

• 09:55 AM In a letter included with this morning's proxy filing, Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) director James Wilson claims activist shareholder Carl Icahn is surreptitiously pushing for a sale of the company to Eli Lilly (LLY) - which he says would seriously undermine AMLN's value. AMLN +2.4%. LLY +1.4%. Comment!
• 07:01 AM Eli Lilly (LLY): Q1 EPS of $1.20 beats by $0.21. Revenue of $5.05B (+5.0%) in-line. Shares +2.2% premarket. (PR) Comment!
• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Monday's open: BAC, ETN, HAL, HAS, LLY, MMR, PEP, WFT Comment!