** Shares of U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly LLY.N rise 1.70% to $840.08 premarket

** Peer Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO posted Q4 operating profit above expectations

** Sales of its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy more than doubled

** Novo lost out to Lilly in the fourth quarter in terms of total weekly prescriptions written for Wegovy compared to Lilly's Zepbound in the United States, the biggest market

** Last month, LLY forecast Q4 sales of Zepbound below Wall Street estimates

** LLY reports its quarterly results on Thursday

** LLY shares gained ~32% in 2024

(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru)

((Sriparna.Roy@thomsonreuters.com;))