Eli Lilly’s focus is on pain & immunology drugs for 20 new medicines it would launch by 2023

The sudden death of singer Prince on April 12 due to overdose of chronic pain drugs only highlights the need to look into development of good medicine to treat chronic pain. Fortunately, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly announced on Tuesday that the focus of its research and development in the next few years would be on pain and immunology drugs.

Eli Lilly, in an investor presentation, said it would launch up to 20 new drugs by 2023. It said the focus would be on key franchises such as diabetes, oncology and neurodegenerative ailments such as Alzheimer’s. Now, immunology would be added to its core therapeutic spaces.

It hopes to be profitable as pioneers in non-opioid pain therapies as new drugs, reports Fortune. But Eli Lily CEO John Lechleiter admits that given the nature of science and its business, there are no guarantees.

The bulk of the company’s revenues are from medicines that are more than a decade one. The focus on R&D is timely since in 2015, the company got only one new therapy approved – Portrazza, an advanced lung cancer drug.

These new drugs would be developed in a newly purchased 30,000 square feet of laboratory space in New Year City. Lechleiter says the firm is “in the midst of the most prolific period of new launches in our company’s 140-year history.”

During the investor presentation, 21 Wall Street analysts projected that Eli Lilly’s shareprice would reach $95.71 (AUD$132.80) within the next 52 weeks. Their high price target is $116 (AUD$161), while the low is $78 (AUD$108).