Eli Lilly Is Much More Than a Weight-Loss Drug Company. Here's the Evidence

Eli Lilly's (NYSE:LLY) impressive run continues. The company's recent third-quarter update was excellent, sending the stock price up about 6%. Eli Lilly's weight loss medicine, Zepbound, was once again one of its biggest growth drivers, while the company's newer Foundayo, an oral anti-obesity drug, is also starting to make meaningful contributions. However, it'd be a mistake to think that Eli Lilly is only a weight-loss drug company, or even just a GLP-1-focused company. Here's how Eli Lilly’s latest earnings update proves otherwise.

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Growth across the board

During the third quarter, Eli Lilly's most important growth drivers, Zepbound and Mounjaro, a diabetes treatment, powered the company's revenue beat. Zepbound's revenue came in at $5.4 billion, up 49% year over year. Mounjaro's sales were $10.7 billion, 65% higher than the year-ago period. Together, they accounted for 66% of Eli Lilly's total revenue of $24.4 billion, which increased 39% year over year.

However, several of the company's other medicines performed well, too. And what's particularly important for Eli Lilly's future is that it boasts several products across various therapeutic areas outside its GLP-1 portfolio that could eventually become blockbusters. The list includes Kisunla for Alzheimer's disease (AD), Jaypirca, a cancer drug, and Ebglyss and Omvoh, a pair of immunology therapies. Here is how these four performed during the third quarter.

Table by author. Data from Eli Lilly’s financial releases.

All four have been on the market for less than five years, and based on various label expansions, they have earned -- or could earn over the next few years -- they could combine to contribute meaningfully to sales growth over the medium term. Consider, for instance, that in early October, Eli Lilly earned a label expansion for Jaypirca to treat certain patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma.

This approval brings the medicine into the first-line setting for these cancers (for eligible patients), thereby meaningfully expanding the drug's addressable market. Ebglyss, which is approved for atopic dermatitis (eczema), is also making progress. In June, it won a label expansion for maintenance dosing every eight weeks. It was previously indicated for maintenance dosing every four weeks.

The newer, more convenient dosing schedule should make Ebglyss more competitive in a crowded eczema market. Omvoh also earned a label expansion about a year ago, making it a more convenient option for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

And Kisunla has entered an Alzheimer's disease market with few treatment options and a large -- and increasing, given the world's aging population -- addressable opportunity.

It's only the beginning

Here's the best part. All four of these medicines are only the tip of the iceberg for Eli Lilly. The company boasts other newer approvals, including Inluriyo, a cancer treatment. Eli Lilly launched Inluriyo last year, and it contributed $73 million in revenue during the third quarter. It also received a label expansion in September.

And beyond all these newer products, Eli Lilly boasts a deep pipeline. Some of the company's promising products include remternetug, an investigational medicine for Alzheimer's disease. Remternetug could be even better than Kisunla. In early-stage trials, it appeared to clear amyloid plaques (the accumulation of which in the brain is believed to play an important role in the progression of the disease) more rapidly while offering more convenient subcutaneous injections -- Kisunla is administered intravenously.

Remternetug has yet to clearly demonstrate superiority in Phase 3 studies, but it's worth keeping an eye on its development. Further, Eli Lilly has significantly expanded its pipeline in recent years across multiple therapeutic areas. The company should make meaningful progress through the end of the decade. It could continue to perform well, even as it faces increased competition in its core therapeutic area, as it diversifies its lineup. Eli Lilly isn't just a weight-loss GLP-1 drug company, and that's another reason why the stock is a buy.

Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Eli Lilly. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Eli Lilly. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.