Eli Lilly and Company reports that John C. Lechleiter, PhD, chairman, president, and chief executive officer (CEO) will retire as president and CEO from the company, effective December 31, 2016. Lechleiter will continue on Lilly’s board of directors until May 31, 2017, serving as non-executive chairman, at which time he will leave the board. Lilly’s board of directors unanimously elected David A. Ricks, currently senior vice president and president, Lilly Bio-Medicines, to assume the role of president and CEO and to join the board on January 1, 2017, and to become chairman of the board on June 1, 2017. Ricks’ successor as president of Lilly Bio-Medicines will be announced at a later date.

Lechleiter has been the company’s CEO since April 1, 2008, and the chairman of its board of directors since January 1, 2009. He joined Lilly in 1979 as a senior organic chemist in process research and development. In the mid-1980s, he served as director of pharmaceutical product development for the Lilly Research Center Limited in England. He later held roles in project management, regulatory affairs, product development, and pharma operations. In 2005, he was named president and chief operating officer and joined the board of directors.

Since January 2012, Ricks has served as president of Lilly Bio-Medicines, which encompasses the therapeutic areas of Alzheimer’s disease, urology, immunology, musculoskeletal disease, and pain, as well as the company’s global marketing function. Ricks serves on the board of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) and has served as co-chair of the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue. After joining Lilly in 1996 as a business development associate, Ricks held several management roles in US marketing and sales before moving to Lilly Canada, where he served successively as director of pharmaceutical marketing, national sales director, and general manager. He was subsequently named president and general manager of Lilly China before becoming president of Lilly USA in 2009.

Source: Eli Lilly and Company