Eli Lilly reports 'strong results'

24 Jul 2008

Eli Lilly says it has seen a strong financial performance in the second quarter of this year.

The drugs giant reported a net income of $958.8 million (£481.5 million) for the three-month period, which equates to earnings of $0.88 per share.

It revealed that its worldwide sales were up by 11 per cent on the same period in 2007 - this year reaching almost $5.2 billion.

John Lechleiter, the firm's president and chief executive officer, commented: "Our newer products, including Cymbalta, Cialis, and Alimta, continued to perform exceptionally well, while our diabetes care franchise has made good progress."

In addition, he stressed that the company has continued to pursue business development activities in the areas of research and development.

Eli Lilly recently announced that it is to purchase SGX Pharmaceuticals for about $64 million.

SGX is headquartered in San Diego and specialises in the development new oncology treatments.