Zhixin Finance learned from BMO that the newly approved Alzheimer's drug donanemab from Eli Lilly and Co. could bring the company peak sales of up to $7.1 billion, and will help the pharmaceutical company diversify its sources of income.

According to Eli Lilly and Co., the drug is also known as Kisunla, which is intravenously infused every four weeks for patients. Each bottle is priced at $695.65, and the cost for a six-month course of treatment is $12,522, $32,000 for a 12-month course, and $48,696 for an 18-month course. Eli Lilly and Co. said that eligible patients can get medical insurance coverage and reimbursement.

The drug is expected to compete with Leqembi from Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai Co. and Biogen Inc., which was approved by the FDA in 2023. According to reports, Leqembi costs around $26,500 per year.

Donanemab and Leqembi are milestones in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, which for the past thirty years, people have been trying to develop drugs to fight this deadly disease but have failed. Both drugs target beta-amyloid protein in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, which is one of the main pathological features of the disease, and can slow the progression of the disease in early patients. Some analysts predict that donanemab may be superior to Leqembi because of its higher efficacy demonstrated in trials. Both drugs are administered by intravenous injection. In addition, Eli Lilly and Co.'s Kisunla only needs to be injected once every four weeks, while Leqembi needs to be injected once every two weeks, giving Eli Lilly and Co. an advantage in convenience.

BMO said in a report on Wednesday that "although BMO expects Kisunla's market launch to be as slow as Leqembi's, approval is a meaningful opportunity for the company to expand in the field of neuroscience."

At present, Eli Lilly and Co.'s revenue mainly comes from diabetes drugs. The company's best-selling drug in 2023 is the diabetes drug Trulicity, with sales of $7.1 billion, followed by GLP-1 diabetes treatment and weight loss drug Mounjaro with sales of $5.1 billion. Eli Lilly and Co.'s breast cancer drug Verzenio ranks third with sales of $3.9 billion. Eli Lilly's total revenue in 2023 is $34 billion.

"Considered the significant infrastructure required to establish an anti-starch protein therapy in the Alzheimer's treatment paradigm," two leading pharmaceutical companies in the Alzheimer's market are advantageous compared to only one, according to BMO. BMO added that "the approval of Kisunla could actually benefit the sales of both products."

At the same time, SA analyst Stephen Ayers expects Kisunla's peak annual sales to be between $2 billion and $5 billion. He also believes that Kisunla has an advantage over Leqembi in part because of its more convenient management schedule. He pointed out that Eli Lilly could learn from the problems encountered by Biogen when launching Leqembi and gain a latecomer advantage.

In his latest analysis article, Ayers wrote, "Although drugs like Kisunla and Leqembi face a lot of uncertainty in the Alzheimer's drug market, I believe Eli Lilly's Kisunla is the better choice. Kisunla may add another heavy weight to Eli Lilly's medical arsenal, and investors should appreciate the diversity of therapeutic indications."