Lilly says Mounjaro and Zepbound sales more than doubled to $11.7 billion in a quarter

Eli Lilly reported on Feb. 4, 2026 that Mounjaro and Zepbound, its two brand-name versions of the drug tirzepatide, brought in $11.7 billion in combined sales in a single quarter, more than double their sales a year earlier ^[1][2].

The numbers came with the company's fourth-quarter earnings release. CNBC's report on the results said Lilly "blows past quarterly estimates" and posted a "strong outlook as Zepbound and Mounjaro sales soar" ^[2]. The company also said it expects 2026 to go better than rival Novo Nordisk, which sells the competing GLP-1 drug semaglutide as Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus ^[1].

Several details that would help patients judge what the total means were not disclosed. How the $11.7 billion splits between Mounjaro and Zepbound has not been reported. Neither has the share of sales that came from the United States versus other countries, or how much of the growth came from selling more doses versus charging more per dose. The specific revenue figures behind the comparison with Novo Nordisk's 2026 guidance also have not been reported. Supply and availability were not addressed in the accounts of the release.

Lilly also addressed the product it has coming next: an experimental GLP-1 pill, orforglipron, that patients would swallow instead of injecting. The company said it does not expect the pill to pull sales away from its injectable products ^[1]. No launch date, price or insurance-coverage plan for the pill was reported, and it is not yet known whether people now taking weekly injections would move to a daily pill if one were available.

Why it matters for patients

Quarterly earnings do not change what a drug is approved for, what dose a clinician prescribes, or what an insurer covers. Nothing in these results announced a new use, a new product on the market, or a change in the list price of Mounjaro or Zepbound.

Sales that large do have indirect effects. They give Lilly more money to spend on manufacturing capacity, clinical trials and marketing, and they shape how aggressively the company competes with Novo Nordisk on price, rebates and access. Both companies' GLP-1 products are frequently the subject of contract talks with pharmacy benefit managers and insurers, and those negotiations, not earnings reports, are usually where copays and coverage rules get set.

The $11.7 billion also says something about demand: a very large number of people are already using these drugs. That matters to anyone trying to fill a prescription, but whether manufacturing is keeping pace with that demand was not addressed in the reported results.

The pill is the piece with the most direct implications for people who dislike injections. Lilly's own expectation is that an oral option would add users rather than pull people off shots ^[1], but that is a company forecast, not a measured result, and no data on switching between the two forms was reported.

What happens next

Lilly's guidance for 2026 came in above Novo Nordisk's ^[1]; the specific dollar ranges for either company have not been reported. The results were released Feb. 4, 2026 ^[2]. No date has been announced for when the oral GLP-1 pill would reach the market, and no timeline for regulatory review of it was reported. It is also not yet known how insurers would treat a pill compared with an injection.