Lilly outlines growth plans in 2013 financial report

Lilly has announced its financial results for the 2013 business year, while providing further details on its strategy for 2014.

During the last year, the company generated a revenue total of $23.11 billion (14.04 billion pounds), up by two percent year on year. Meanwhile, its income and earnings for the 12 months saw double-digit annual increases.

In the fourth quarter of the year, the firm's bottom line was affected by the patent expiry for its key product Cymbalta in the US, a development  – along with the loss of US exclusivity for Evista in March 2014 – will negatively affect sales throughout the upcoming year.

However, Lilly has already taken steps to offset this impact in the long term, with products such as Humalog, Trajenta, Cialis, Forteo and Alimta all seeing growth and further new medicines due for release soon.

Dr John Lechleiter, Lilly's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said: "We see it as a moment of tremendous opportunity. We anticipate launching several new medicines this year and returning our company to growth in 2015 and beyond."

According to data released at a strategy meeting earlier this year, the company has 13 potential new medicines in the phase III testing or submission stage, with an additional 26 in phase II.