Eli Lilly (LLY) plans to advertise its blockbuster weight loss drug, Zepbound, for the first time next month.

Despite recognition of the branded drug GLP-1 by investors and the industry, “the spontaneous awareness of Zepbound… is actually not very high,” CEO David Ricks said in a conference call Wednesday Morning.

The company the failed expectations of Wall Street on financial and financial results, including on the drug itself, with revenue of $1.3 billion for the quarter, compared to an expected $1.7 billion.

The company’s shares plunged more than 13% in early trading Wednesday.

The FDA first approved the drug in November 2023, and sales reached more than $1 billion in the second quarter of this year. To date, Lilly’s total revenue since the drug’s launch, without advertising, is $3.2 billion.

“We launched this drug almost a year ago and didn’t do any advertising, so I think it’s time to introduce the brand so people are aware of it when they talk to their doctor,” said Ricks.

The company had to wait for supply to meet demand, which the FDA determined was the case earlier this month. However, this decision is being reconsidered after a refusal. compounding pharmacies who filled the shortage in the meantime with unapproved copies of Lilly’s tirzepatide drugs, including the diabetes drug Mounjaro.

Lilly’s new CFO, Lucas Montarce, said the company has much more confidence in the future of supply. He added that the total addressable market for Zepbound has only reached 5% penetration. The company must therefore do what it can to raise patient awareness, particularly via the direct-to-consumer sales platform LillyDirect.

The move also comes at a time when Lilly is taking more and more market share from rival Novo Nordisk (NVO), which remains faced with supply constraints.

“If we look at the last 90 days (and) 180 days of prescription growth in the U.S., both brands are growing aggressively. We’ve now surpassed Wegovy in the weight loss space,” Ricks told Yahoo Finance in an interview Wednesday.

In the diabetes area, “we are not quite on par with Ozempic with Mounjaro, but every week we are essentially eating away at (market) share,” he added.

In weekly prescription data ending Oct. 18, Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro captured 33% market share, a 79% year-over-year jump, while Novo’s Ozempic was at 47%. , a jump of 39% from one year to the next. . But the numbers have moved in Lilly’s favor this year, according to data compiled by JPMorgan analysts.

In February, weekly data ending February 16 showed Mounjaro at 29% of the market compared to Ozempic’s 44%.

Market share data for Zepbound and Wegovy is not available, but average quarterly prescription data shows that Wegovy’s prescriptions increased 123% year over year in October, compared to an increase of 3,281% for Zepbound. The data also shows that prescriptions for Zepbound since its launch exceeded those of the other three drugs (Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy) in the first 12 weeks, but supply constraints have slowed the process.

Anjalee Khemlani is the senior healthcare reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering all things pharmaceutical, insurance, healthcare, digital health, PBMs, and healthcare politics and policy. This of course includes GLP-1. Follow Anjalee on most social media platforms @AnjKhem.

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