INDIANAPOLIS (NEWSnet/AP) — Eli Lilly’s diabetes treatment Mounjaro, which is widely used for weight loss, posted nearly $1 billion in second-quarter sales, or more than $200 million above expectations.

Shares of the drugmaker soared 17% to an all-time-high Tuesday after Lilly said Mounjaro sales swelled more than 70% since the first quarter to $980 million. Almost all of that came from the U.S., and the company said significant demand was leading to delays in filling orders for some doses.

Analysts expected the drug to bring in about $740 million during the quarter, according to FactSet.

Executives said Tuesday that they expect tight supplies will lead to some spot shortages of Mounjaro through year's end. In response, Lilly is building a new manufacturing plant in North Carolina and expanding at another location there.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Mounjaro at the end of last year's second quarter to treat type 2 diabetes. But doctors have already been prescribing it off-label for weight loss and regulators are considering whether to make that an approved use.

Lilly said earlier this year that the injectable treatment helped people with type 2 diabetes who were overweight or obese to lose up to 16% of their body weight, typically for those patients about 34 pounds, over nearly 17 months.

If approved, Lilly’s drug would compete with Novo Nordisk’s popular weight loss drug Wegovy — also sold to manage diabetes under the brand Ozempic.

Analysts have predicted that Lilly's drug, known generically as tirzepatide, could become one of the top-selling drugs ever.

Copyright 2023 NEWSnet and The Associated Press. All rights reserved.