Lilly and Junshi's COVID-19 Antibody Cocktail Therapy Resumes Distribution in the U.S.

On August 27, Eli Lilly announced that the FDA has resumed distribution of the bamlanivimab/etesevimab antibody cocktail therapy, co-developed with Junshi Biosciences.

The COVID-19 neutralizing antibody developed in collaboration with Junshi Biosciences generated $871 million in revenue for Eli Lilly in 2020, and continued to grow in Q1 2021, reaching $810 million in revenue.

Due to the impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants, on June 25, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the suspension of distribution of the Eli Lilly/Junshi Biosciences COVID-19 neutralizing antibody cocktail therapy. In vitro assays demonstrated that the Eli Lilly/Junshi neutralizing antibodies lacked neutralizing activity against the Brazilian variant (P.1) and the South African variant (B.1.351), which directly impacted the subsequent sales of Eli Lilly's COVID-19 neutralizing antibodies. Consequently, Q2 sales declined significantly, with revenue reaching only $149 million.

However, given the widespread prevalence of the Delta variant, the Eli Lilly/Junshi Biosciences COVID-19 neutralizing antibody cocktail therapy has demonstrated efficacy against this strain. The resumption of distribution is expected to drive a rebound in sales for this neutralizing antibody combination therapy.