Lilly's 1st-qtr profit jumps 23.6% to $1.31B

US drug major Eli Lilly's first-quarter 2009 profit rose 23.6% year-on-year to $1.31 billion, as revenues jumped 5% to $5.05 billion,  boosted by the strong US dollar and higher drug prices.

The results beat consensus estimates and, although shares in the  Indianapolis-based company fell 2.3% to $32.99, this was a smaller  decline than the wider market as the Dow lost 3.6% on that day, April  20.

Product sales rose 4% to $4.89 billion, and collaboration and other  revenue soared 58% to $155.2 million, primarily due to the inclusion of  income from colorectal cancer treatment Erbitux (cetuximab) as a result  of the $6.5 billion acquisition of US biotechnology-based cancer  specialist ImClone (Marketletter October 13, 2008).