Eli Lilly announces a “successful” 2007

Eli Lilly chairman Sidney Taurel has announced a “successful” year for the business, marked by strong financial results for the fourth quarter.

He confirmed that additional investment in sales and marketing had helped fuel accelerated double-digit growth of 22 per cent for the company, with sales reaching $5.190 billion (2.619 billion pounds).

In particular, Eli Lilly highlighted that sales of products launched this decade had collectively grown by 55 per cent and now represented a third of total sales.

Reported fourth quarter results revealed a net income of $854.4 million compared with fourth-quarter 2006 net income of $132.3 million.

Overall for 2007, the pharmaceutical company had seen sales increase by nearly a fifth and net income had grown by 11 per cent to $2.953 billion.

Mr Taurel illustrated that the firm’s performance over the year had provided the financial flexibility required to make investments in research and development which in turn had led to 16 new candidates entering development in 2007.

“Looking ahead to 2008, Lilly is intent on building upon the success of the past year, while driving change, continuing productivity initiatives and achieving superior results under the leadership of John Lechleiter,” he ended.

Last December, Eli Lilly announced that Mr Taurel would retire as chairman and chief executive officer in March 2008.