In this week’s edition of InnovationRx, we look at Lilly’s 2Q earnings, a cannabis-derived drug for PTSD, Apnimed’s IPO and more. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here.
Lilly’s GLP-1 business is booming.
The company reported today that its second quarter revenue grew 48% year over year to $23 billion. Lilly also increased its annual revenue guidance to between $85 billion and $87 billion. After the announcement, investors pushed the stock price up nearly 5% as of today’s market close.
The biggest drivers for the revenue increase are the company’s GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro (for diabetes), whose second quarter sales grew 91% year over year to $10 billion, and Zepbound (for obesity), whose sales grew 46% to $5 billion.
The earnings report also highlighted the company’s next generation weight-loss drug, retatrutide. Last month, clinical trials found that adults taking it lost, on average, over 20% of their body weight after 80 weeks. Lilly plans to apply for FDA approval of retatrutide in 2027.
Cannabis-Derived Drug Ended Nightmares In Some PTSD Patients, New Study Finds
Researchers at German hospital Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study over ten weeks with 170 patients on Dronabinol—a prescription medication made from THC directly derived from cannabis plants.
In a study published by journal Nature Medicine on Wednesday, the researchers found that the “nightmare burden” in PTSD patients who took the drug fell compared to the group taking the placebo, with five out of six patients in the group given the drug reported their health “markedly improved.”
Notably, at least 21% of patients taking the drug reported their nightmares were reduced by half, and over one-third of patients reported they were no longer having nightmares at all after ten weeks of medication.
Read more here.
Deal of the Week
Massachusetts-based Apnimed raised $192 million in an IPO as its shares started trading on Friday. The company is developing a drug to treat sleep apnea, which affects up to 80 million Americans. (Forbes profiled the company’s efforts earlier this year.) Apnimed applied to the FDA for approval and could receive the okay in the first quarter of 2027. Shares were initially priced at $16, but opened at $22 on Friday and closed at $26.51 on Wednesday.
What We’re Reading
The World Health Organization estimates that the current Ebola outbreak in Congo has likely affected 3 to 4 times as many people as suggested by the official numbers.
Six more states have been added to the ongoing cyclosporiasis outbreak: Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Missouri.
A large study confirms that Covid-19 infections can “wake up” dormant viruses in the body, leading to other illnesses.
AstraZeneca and CSPC Pharmaceutical are establishing a joint venture in China for biologics manufacturing.