Eli Lilly briefly became the world’s most valuable publicly traded drugmaker in 2024 as investor confidence in its diabetes and obesity medicines surged.
Eli Lilly developed tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes and Zepbound for chronic weight management. The medicines act on hormone pathways involved in blood-sugar regulation and appetite, and their strong demand led investors to raise expectations for Lilly’s future revenue and profit.
The company was founded in 1876 by Colonel Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, Indiana. Its long history includes medicines such as insulin products, Prozac, and other treatments, but the tirzepatide franchise became especially important to its market valuation in the 2020s.
Market-cap leadership among pharmaceutical companies can change rapidly with trial results, regulatory decisions, patent expectations, and sales forecasts. Mounjaro is not the same medicine as semaglutide products such as Ozempic and Wegovy, which are made by Novo Nordisk. That distinction matters when comparing the companies’ valuations.