Eli Lilly and Co.'s tirzepatide, a high-profile entrant in the global anti-obesity race, hit a key milestone, becoming the first investigational medicine to deliver more than 20% weight loss on average for non-diabetics in a phase III study, said Jeff Emmick, vice president of product development at the company.

The pandemic has forced pharma and biotech to be more agile to better navigate the obstacles and still find success. Supply chain gaps are part of the problem, as are clinical trial delays. Yet the industry has successfully forged ahead in the past year to produce the seven drugs Clarivate believes in the next five years will each earn more than $1 billion annually.

Following November’s equity investment that brought it a 14% ownership in Protomer Technologies Inc., Eli Lilly and Co. has acquired the privately held company engineering protein and peptide therapeutics that sense molecular activators. If development and commercial milestones are met, the deal could be worth more than $1 billion.