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iStock, subin thanuma Eli Lilly is the first pharma company to take first place in both categories in the eight years that intelligence firm IDEA Pharma has put out its analysis. Skyrocketing sales and multiple FDA approvals helped the company shoot to the top. Eli Lilly is this year’s undisputed pharma R&D leader, emerging as the industry’s best inventor and innovator. That’s according to industry intelligence firm IDEA Pharma, which for eight years now has been rating drugmakers based on how well they can take a theoretical small molecule drug through early and clinical development and successfully execute a commercial strategy for the product. IDEA defines invention as a company’s ability to combine novel ideas and technologies “to create something that did not exist before,” according to the firm’s 2026 Global Pharmaceutical Innovation & Invention Index , published May 12. The invention index also assesses the “breadth and depth” of drugmakers’ pipeline, looking at “who is developing medicines that matter.” Innovation, on the other hand, is how well a company can create meaningful value returns from its invention. This year, Lilly is the clear winner on both fronts. This is the pharma’s second year as the innovation leader, a distinction supported by a 45% year-on-year (YoY) surge in its annual earnings, which hit nearly $65.2 billion in 2025. The pharma’s incretin products are “central” to its performance, according to IDEA, pointing to a 99% YoY growth in Mounjaro sales to $23 billion and a 175% YoY increase in Zepbound revenue to $13.5 billion. Lilly reinvested the financial gains from its incretin franchise into its development pipeline, giving the pharma a big boost to its 2026 invention rating. Last year, Lilly was sixth on IDEA’s leaderboard. “Building on its core metabolic franchise, Lilly continues to expand across oncology, neuroscience and immunology,” IDEA said earlier this month. “The rise on the Invention Index is underpinned by continued early pipeline investment and strategic transactions.” Key pipeline wins for Lilly include the approval of its weight-loss pill Foundayo, the label expansion of Omvoh into Crohn’s disease and the approval of Inluriyo in breast cancer, according to IDEA. The firm also pointed to Lilly’s acquisition of Verve Therapeutics and SiteOne Therapeutics as contributors to the pharma’s improved invention rating. Trailing Lilly is Merck, which kept its second-place innovation rank from last year, driven by the continued strong performance of cornerstone cancer therapy Keytruda and bolstered by the growth of its pulmonary hypertension drug Winrevair and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease medicine Ohtuvayre, according to IDEA. Meanwhile, Merck jumped two places to fifth on the invention ranking, driven by its cholesterol-lowering pill enlicitide, along with improvements in its infectious disease pipeline, anchored by the $9.2 billion acquisition of Cidara Therapeutics. Another standout company on IDEA’s ranking is Sanofi, which skyrocketed 19 spots to third place on the innovation index, while dropping five notches to 17th on the invention ranking. GSK ranked fourth on innovation, followed by Regeneron. Weight loss Lilly Redefines the Pharma Mega-Blockbuster Previous mega blockbusters took years to reach their peak sales. Lilly’s tirzepatide franchise is on course to exceed them just a few years in. November 25, 2025 · 2 min read · Annalee Armstrong Read more

Biotechnology firm Arvinas and partner Pfizer have struck a long-awaited licensing deal for their newly approved breast cancer drug.The companies on Tuesday inked an agreement transfering ownership of that medicine, Veppanu, to San Francisco-based biotech Rigel Pharmaceuticals. Arvinas and Pfizer will receive $75 million upfront, another $15 million after certain transition activities are completed, and are eligible for another $320 million in future payouts as well as sales royalties. In return, Rigel will get global rights to Veppanu, which includes the ability to partner off non-U.S. ownership. Formerly known as vepdegestrant, Veppanu earlier this month was approved in the U.S.as a treatment for certain people with a common form of breast cancer. In winning that clearance, Veppanu became the first drug of its kind a protein-trashing medicine known for short as a PROTAC to get to market.Arvinas and Pfizer had originally hoped Veppanu could help a broad group of breast cancer patients in multiple lines of care. However, the drug proved most beneficial in breast cancer patients with mutations to a gene called ESR1. Study data also didnt clearly separate Veppanu from other, similar hormone-degrading cancer drugs recently approved for breast tumors, such as Eli Lilly's Inluriyoand Menarinis Orserdu.Those factors led the partners to dial back their projections for Veppanu and look to offload the medicine rather than sell it. Theyd aimed to complete a deal before a regulatory approval was issued, though Arvinas CEO Randy Teel reassured investors the companies were well-situated if an alliance hadnt been struck by then.The transaction effectively enables Arvinas to move forward with a pipeline thats now built around other programs. It's not the blue-sky deal I wouldve hoped for, but the most important part of the deal is that its done, and focus can now fully move on, wrote Evercore ISI analyst Jon Miller, in a Tuesday note to clients.Founded in 1996, Rigel is best known for Tavalisse, a medicine used to treat a rare autoimmune disease known as chronic immune thrombocytopenia. With the addition of Veppanu, the company now has three other marketed cancer medicinesas well.With its novel mechanism of action designed to address a key driver of resistance, Veppanu represents a compelling treatment option within this setting,“ said Rigel CEO Raul Rodriguez, in a separate statement.Rodriguez said the therapy is expected to contribute strong revenue growth and has the potential to become a key revenue driver for the company going forward. '