Lilly meets business expectations in 2011

Lilly has announced its financial results for 2011, a period which saw the company meeting its predefined targets in a challenging business environment.

The firm's total reported revenue figure for the full year came to $24.29 billion (15.34 billion pounds), up by five percent on 2010, with seven pharmaceutical products and the company's animal health business exceeding $1 billion in annual sales.

Solid growth in these areas – as well as in key regions such as Japan and emerging markets – helped to counterbalance the impact of recent patent expirations for key products such as Zyprexa.

Lilly's chief financial officer Derica Rice said the company was able to either meet or exceed several strategic goals presented to investors, thanks to efficiency improvements and productive research and development efforts.

Chief executive officer Dr John Lechleiter added: "With a late-stage clinical pipeline that now features a dozen potential new medicines in phase III, Lilly is well-positioned to deliver on our innovation-based strategy and create long-term value for all of our stakeholders."

In December 2012, the company was named as one of the world's top organisations in terms of corporate leadership by Aon Hewitt.