New York, January 12, 2026, 5:46 PM EST — After-hours
- Shares last up about 1.6% in after-hours trade, extending a modest regular-session gain
- Lilly R&D chief said the company expects enough supply to launch its oral obesity pill in many countries as soon as approvals land
- Lilly and Nvidia also unveiled a $1 billion joint AI research lab as the J.P. Morgan healthcare conference gets underway
Eli Lilly stock rose about 1.6% in after-hours trading on Monday, last at $1,081, after a top research executive said the drugmaker expects to have enough supply to launch its experimental weight-loss pill orforglipron in “many, many countries” as it nears a U.S. regulatory decision. (Reuters)
The comments matter now because investors have been treating the obesity drug market as the main driver of Lilly’s revenue momentum — and pills could pull in patients who avoid injections or lack insurance coverage.
Pills also shift the fight with Novo Nordisk from factory capacity to consumer behavior, pricing and convenience. GLP-1 drugs work by mimicking a gut hormone that helps curb appetite and lower blood sugar, but most of the best-selling versions so far are shots.
Daniel Skovronsky, Lilly’s chief scientific and product officer, told Reuters the company plans a rapid, near-simultaneous launch across countries and pointed to an FDA “fast-track review voucher” that could shorten the review to as little as one to two months. He also framed the $150-a-month cash price as “Starbucks pricing.”
Lilly plans to lean on convenience against Novo’s newly launched pill. Novo’s oral semaglutide has timing and fasting restrictions, while Lilly says orforglipron can be taken like a typical pill, without food-related limits.
Skovronsky also said Lilly sees a role for orforglipron as a maintenance option for people stepping down from injectable treatments. He said more than one million people have been treated through Lilly Direct, the company’s direct-to-consumer platform.
The broader bet is that the pill segment gets big enough to matter to earnings. A Novo executive told Reuters oral drugs could represent “a third-plus” of the GLP-1 obesity market by 2030, and TD Cowen analysts have estimated pills could take a mid-teens share of what they pegged as a $150 billion global obesity drug market by then. (Reuters)
Lilly also drew attention on Monday through a separate deal with Nvidia. The companies said they will spend $1 billion over five years to build a joint research lab in the San Francisco Bay Area using Nvidia’s latest Vera Rubin AI chips, aimed at speeding drug discovery and development. (Reuters)
Deal chatter is in the mix, too. France’s finance ministry said it has had no contact with Lilly and has received no request for investment approval involving French biotech Abivax, after a report suggested Lilly was still interested in a potential purchase. (Reuters)
Still, the near-term swing factor for the stock remains regulatory timing and demand. Any delay, tougher-than-expected labeling, or sharper price pressure as Novo and other rivals crowd the market could blunt the payoff from an oral launch.
Lilly shares ended the regular session at $1,071.72 before pushing higher in late trading. (Yahoo Finance)
Investors next look to the J.P. Morgan healthcare conference, including CEO David Ricks’ scheduled appearance on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m. EST, for any new detail on the FDA timeline, rollout plans and pricing strategy around orforglipron. (Lilly)
