The news: Eli Lilly beat first-quarter expectations, generating $19.8 billion in revenues, up 56% year over year, driven by strong sales of injectable GLP-1s.

• Sales of diabetes drug Mounjaro topped $8.7 billion, while weight loss drug Zepbound reached nearly $4.2 billion, up 125% and 80% year over year, respectively.
• Lilly also raised its full-year guidance to $82 billion to $85 billion, up from $80 billion to $83 billion.

Why it matters: Lilly’s strong earnings, fueled by surging growth from its GLP-1 drugs, extend its market share lead in the injectable GLP-1 race.

Lilly’s results do not include sales from its April-launched GLP-1 pill Foundayo. But during its earnings call, executives said more than 20,000 patients have been treated, and 80% are new to the GLP-1 class. That compares with Novo Nordisk, which launched its Wegovy weight loss pill in January and saw 600,000 prescriptions in its first two months. However, Lilly noted that its full marketing campaign for Foundayo won’t launch until Q3, and that doctors need time to review the drug before prescribing ramps up.

Lilly and Novo will be battling to capture growing consumer demand for the pill versions.

• 42% of overweight Americans who are not using a GLP-1 for weight loss say they are likely to start one in 2026, and 47% would prefer a pill, according to a January Sunlight.com survey.
• The survey also found that many patients already using a GLP-1 injectable for weight loss are open to switching: 59% are very interested and 28% are somewhat interested.

Implications for weight loss drugmakers: Lilly and Novo’s battle across injectables and pills will define how the category evolves, and raise the bar for new entrants. With effectiveness and prices converging, differentiation will shift to access, patient support, and marketing.

Both drugmakers have spent hundreds of millions to promote Zepbound and Wegovy, and pills are likely to take the same path. That means an even higher baseline for ad spending and marketing reach, making it harder for brands unfamiliar to weight loss marketing and smaller players to break through.

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