The pharmaceutical industry is ready to fall off a cliff -- a "patent cliff." Over the next few years, some of the world's most popular and lucrative medicines will go off patent, and generic competition will siphon an estimated quarter of a trillion dollars from drugmakers' bottom lines.
Eli Lilly reported its second quarter earnings per share grew a better-than-expected 11% to $1.24, handily beating expectations for earnings of $1.10 per share. Similarly, revenue jumped 9% to $5.75 billion, topping estimates of $5.58 billion.
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly -- maker of Prozac and Cialis -- is expected to post solid fourth-quarter profits on Thursday after a recent restructuring. But the results will likely be lower than the year-ago quarter.
