Chemist Lechleiter Preps for Latest Experiment: Leading Lilly

Chemist Lechleiter Preps for Latest Experiment: Leading Lilly

Story Published: Mar 31, 2008 at 7:23 AM EDT

Story Updated: Mar 31, 2008 at 7:26 AM EDT

By Nina Settappa

NDIANAPOLIS (AP) - John Lechleiter takes over as Eli Lilly's
CEO on April 1, succeeding 59-year-old Sidney Taurel, who is
retiring.

Lechleiter inherits a Fortune 500 company that earned nearly $3
billion last year but will lose patent protection for its
best-selling drug, the anti-psychotic Zyprexa, in three years.

Meanwhile, the drugmaker is battling a slumping stock price and,
like other pharmaceutical companies, faces growing government
regulation and competition from generic products.

Lechleiter, a Harvard-trained chemist, was most recently the
company's chief operating officer. He becomes Lilly's ninth leader
in 131 years, capping a career that began nearly 30 years ago in
research labs.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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