6 Thoughts from Dave Ricks’ JPM Talk
14.06.17
• “Sustaining a flow of innovation is critical for the health – and valuation – of any biopharmaceutical enterprise. We’ve made great progress, having launched seven new products since 2014, with the prospect of launching 20 new products between 2014 and 2023, many of which could address unmet needs in large patient populations.”
• Ricks is focused on the basics of our business. “Hanging on the wall of my office is the Lilly Code, first published in 1899:
‘To provide the profession with medicinal products of highest quality and unwavering potency.
‘To contribute to the progress of medicine by developing new and superior agents through research.
‘To issue information about the company and the uses of its products through professional channels exclusively.’
“We see tremendous opportunity ahead, and we believe that we achieve our potential by keeping our focus on the basics – just like my predecessor JK Lilly, Sr., over 100 years ago.”
• Key priorities for Lilly moving forward:
- Launch with excellence, introducing our newest set of medicines around the world.
- Reload our pipeline, with promising opportunities in our labs and outside to take the place of an exciting graduating class of new medicines.
- Increase productivity, driving volume-based growth while controlling costs in all areas of our business.
- Develop talent, attracting leaders and top scientific talent to Lilly from around the world.
• On complementing our internal research with external innovation: “I think we’re a better company if we can compare our internal opportunities to those outside and make the right decisions for our stakeholders – most importantly, patients – about what medicines we should advance.”
• On talent and expansions: “Lilly’s new and expanded R&D centers in key research hubs … support the recruitment of world-class scientific talent, and with our growth, we can offer both current and prospective employees more opportunity and career potential.”
• On the future: “The progress we expect to make in 2017 will continue the positive momentum we’ve built over the past few years and will place us on track to achieve our mid-term expectations. At Lilly we are as excited as ever about the opportunity before us to improve patients’ lives – and to create value for shareholders.”