NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Eli Lilly (LLY.N) has filled its plate with potential obesity treatments, unveiling data from two more on Monday.
With so many options under development at Lilly, Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) and others, it raises reasonable questions about capital allocation.
Obesity drugs have investors salivating, but is this just more pharmaceutical R&D overkill?
Pfizer’s cholesterol-lowering Lipitor, for one, reached consumers after rivals, and a decade after Merck’s version.
Lilly’s research budget, projected at 24% of revenue this year, exceeds that of many peers, including Pfizer’s (PFE.N) 19%.
Persons:
Eli Lilly, Robert Cyran, Aston Martin, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam
Organizations:
YORK, Reuters, Novo Nordisk, Twitter, Vodafone, Thomson
Locations:
Lilly, China, Canada