Eli Lilly Gears Up for a Busy Year with a Diversified Pipeline

By Irene Yeh 

January 29, 2026 | Earlier this month at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Eli Lilly Chairman and CEO David Ricks spoke at a fireside chat and presented what the company has planned for 2026, which also marks its 150th anniversary. This year is expected to be a productive one in terms of clinical trial activity, wider availability of medicines, and expansion into new therapeutic areas. 

Anti-Obesity Drugs 

Tirzepatide (Zepbound) remains one of the main drugs in Lilly’s portfolio. After its initial launch, there were many uncertainties and unknowns, but in 2025 the drug helped change millions of people’s lives globally. Lilly is also actively developing other anti-obesity drugs, including retatruitide, which demonstrated up to 29% weight loss in one targeted population, eloralintide (highly selective amylin receptor agonist), which is slated for phase 3 clinical trials, and orforglipron (oral GLP-1 medication).  

Six additional phase 1 and phase 2 programs are also in clinical development, as well as 34 preclinical discovery programs centered around obesity care.  

“We see this as a chance to help over 1 billion people on the planet with a whole variety of maladies that stem from obesity,” says Ricks, who deems obesity as a “keystone precondition” for many chronic diseases in adults. 

Brain Health and Beyond 

Besides obesity, the company is looking into other areas, including inflammatory conditions. Zepbound has shown remarkable reduction of inflammatory markers and symptoms.  

There is also expansion into oncology, with four new medicines currently in phase 3 trials, and Alzheimer’s disease, including prevention and early treatment with Remternetug and Kisunla (donanemab-azbt), among the most anticipated studies in the industry over the next few years. Additionally, brenipatide, a follow-on GIP-GLP, is tasked with indications in brain health and beyond. 

Patient Access and Engagement 

Despite growing commercial access to medicines, they have been out of reach for many consumers—notably, due to limited government channels. Through collaboration with the Trump administration, Lilly was able to expand access in the weight loss category. Ricks also announced the opening of Medicaid’s Part D benefit for obesity patients, which will adopt Lilly’s obesity medications and commercially spillover, granting access to over 50 million people.   

Ricks also highlights the surge of patient engagement using Lilly Direct, the company’s platform that has served around a million customers since its launch last year and provides people with a choice about where and how to buy medicines. A few years ago, it would have been considered absurd for customers to directly purchase from the drug manufacturer, but new data indicates that there is a high demand for that option. Lilly’s anti-obesity drugs sold the most through the direct-to-consumer route, with ZepBound being the best seller.   

Ricks explains that this surge in online purchases is the result of obesity patients feeling shamed and stigmatized by their healthcare providers. They feel as if their primary care doctors are offering solutions that they have already tried repeatedly, yielding no improvements. Through Lilly Direct, patients have an opportunity to take control of their health with a platform that also offers discretion. Ricks suggests that this phenomenon may not be limited to obesity patients.  

Lilly Direct is already operating in the U.K., and Ricks announces that the company now plans on “taking this global.” “It's clear that consumers, particularly those with obesity, want a direct relationship with the manufacturer. They want to control that experience.” 

Speedy Execution and New Acquisitions 

“One of the things we've worked on over the last decade extensively is speed,” says Ricks. Lilly is estimated to be about three and a half years faster in their processes, from candidate nomination to market introduction. In the last 10 years, it has launched 24 new molecular entities. 

Furthermore, Lilly completed 39 acquisitions last year, representing about one transaction every nine days and $4 billion of capital. “We have time to add value,” says Ricks. “We have time to partner effectively with those leadership teams and entrepreneurs to bring amazing new medicines to the market.” 

Biotech Development 

Lilly is also continuing its work in the biotech sphere, notably, through its Catalyze360 program offering large pharma benefits without the bureaucractic and administrative overhead. To date, 180 biotech companies have collaborated with Lilly via Catalyze360, and the numbers have been steadily increasing. TuneLab, Lilly’s AI-driven drug discovery platform, is also being used by entrepreneurs to enhance projects and accelerate work.  

Ricks additionally mentions Lilly’s collaboration with NVIDIA to build a massive supercomputer to take on the toughest problems and develop the next generation of medicines. The project, which was announced last year, will require about $1 billion of work over the next five years.   Eli Lilly Gears Up for a Busy Year with a Diversified Pipeline