The New York Times reports that for at least a year Eli Lilly provided information to doctors about the blood-sugar risks of its schizophrenia drug Zyprexa that contradicts data circulated within the company when it first reviewed its clinical trial results. The original results, according to a February 2000 memo, show that patients on Zyprexa were 3.5x more likely to experience high blood sugar levels as those on a placebo. But doctors were given a very different picture until at least late 2001; that Zyprexa patients were only 
slightly more likely to suffer high blood sugar. A November 1999 report shows that 16% of patients taking Zyprexa for a year gained more than 66 pounds; Lilly chose instead to focus on data from a different, smaller group of clinical trials that showed 30% of patients gaining 22 pounds. The memos were provided to The New York Times by a lawyer in Alaska representing mentally ill patients. Weight gain and high blood sugar are risk factors for diabetes, and whether Zyprexa causes diabetes has been a subject of scientific debate for several years. Lilly says no link has ever been proven. In a statement yesterday Lily said its reports were accurate, and that the Feb. 2000 data was taken out of context and preliminary, although the document, labelled "Confidential," makes no such mention. The 2000 memo implies that it was prepared when Lilly considered changing Zyprexa’s label to provide doctors with more information about the drug’s potential to raise blood-sugar levels -- the change was never made. Zyprexa is by far Lilly’s best-selling product, with $4.2b in 2005 sales; 30% of its overall revenue.
• Sources: New York Times
• Related commentary: Eli Lilly ZYPREXA LIES
• Potentially impacted stocks and ETFs: Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY), ICOS Corp. (ICOS). Competitors: GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK), Pfizer Inc. (PFE), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), sanofi-aventis (SNY), Novartis AG (NVS), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY). ETFs: iShares Dow Jones US Pharmaceuticals (IHE), iShares Dow Jones US Healthcare (IYH), PowerShares Dynamic Pharmaceuticals (PJP), Pharmaceutical HOLDRs (PPH), Vanguard Health Care VIPERs (VHT), Health Care Select Sect SPDR (XLV), SPDR Pharmaceuticals ETF (XPH)
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