Lilly profit beats Wall Street estimates, helped by cost cuts

By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co on Wednesday reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, helped by cost cuts and a big price increase for top-selling antidepressant Cymbalta, which begins facing generic competition in December. The Indianapolis drugmaker said it had earned $1.20 billion, or $1.11 per share, in the third quarter, compared with $1.33 billion, or $1.18 per share, a year earlier, when it took special charges for a partnership agreement. The profit handily topped the analysts’ average forecast of $1.04 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. …