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"Earlier this year I asked each of our senior leaders to look closely attheir respective areas to determine if they were optimally structured to meetthe demands of our business and our company goals," said John C. Lechleiter,Ph.D., who assumed the role of Lilly president and chief executive officer onApril 1, 2008. "As a result of this thorough review, we are implementing anumber of changes that will minimize bureaucracy by reducing the number oflayers of management, will speed decision-making by clarifying roles andaccountabilities, and will allow us to respond more quickly to criticalbusiness needs."
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Continued Lechleiter, "These changes represent important elements inenabling the implementation of our strategy. In some cases, they haveresulted in staffing changes, with new leaders in key roles."
Changes in management structure and key leadership roles across severalareas of the company have recently been announced to employees, with mostchanges becoming effective during the second quarter. Highlights of theexecutive level changes include the following:
Lilly Research Laboratories (LRL):
The executive leadership structure of the company's research anddevelopment organization, Lilly Research Laboratories (LRL), will undergochanges designed to reduce bureaucracy and clarify accountabilities. Twosenior leaders in the LRL organization have announced their intent to departfrom the company, which has also led to changes in the management structure.
Tim Franson, M.D., vice president of global regulatory affairs, willretire from the company after 22 years of service. Franson is a diplomat ofthe American Board of Internal Medicine, a Fellow of the American College ofPhysicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and played aleadership role on behalf of both Lilly and the industry in the reshaping ofthe Prescription Drug User Fee Act. He has held roles of increasingresponsibility throughout his career at Lilly, including positions in medical(both in the U.S. and in Europe), health economics research and decisionsciences, clinical research, and regulatory affairs. He has held his currentposition since 2003.
Alan Breier, M.D., vice president of medical and chief medical officer,has been appointed full professor in the department of psychiatry at theIndiana University School of Medicine after an 11-year career at Lilly.Breier, who joined Lilly in 1997 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH),has published more than 235 scientific articles in areas related to the causeand treatment of severe mental illnesses, and last year was honored by theAmerican Psychiatric Association for excellence in medical student education.Breier has held a variety of leadership roles at Lilly on the Zyprexa(R)product team as well as in medical, and has served as the chief medicalofficer since 2003.
"Both Tim and Alan have provided exceptional leadership on behalf of ourcompany and wise counsel to me personally. Their contributions to ourorganization and to the patients we serve have been very significant, and theywill both be missed. Our deepest thanks and best wishes go with both of themas they embark on new endeavors," said Steve Paul, M.D., executive vicepresident of science and technology and president of LRL.
The primary change to the LRL structure is the creation of a combinedglobal regulatory, medical and patient safety organization, which will createa single point of accountability for regulatory and medical affairs. TimGarnett, M.D., currently vice president of global patient safety, will assumethe role of vice president and chief medical officer and will lead this neworganiz
