Lilly set to post profit losses

Lilly has said its $6.5 billion (4.37 billion pounds) acquisition of ImClone has wiped out its 2008 profit.

However, speaking at the company’s annual investor update, the organisation added the purchase – though it may also dent next year’s earnings – has not affected the strength of its product pipeline.

In the meeting, Lilly also unveiled a 2009 earnings forecast of between $4 and $4.25 per share, which includes the ImClone deal’s impact of between 30 and 35 cents per share – due to factors including additional research and development costs and interest expense from debt issued.

According to the Associated Press, chief executive of the company John Lechleiter said: “All these moves strengthen our business and our pipeline, and we intend to continue this aggressive pace.”

The news agency adds he went on to say he believed Lilly’s best option was to remain independent: “There’s absolutely no evidence that these large-scale mergers do anything other than assuage short-term pain.”

Earlier this week, Lilly became a member of the Safe-BioPharma Association.

The joining of the non-profit organisation is set to mean the company can manage identities of employees and external collaborators, using digital signatures to sign documents.