Lilly’s history lesson

Eli Lilly and Co. President and CEO-in-waiting David Ricks will inherit a well-stocked pipeline, seven drugs less than three years old and a much-improved growth trajectory. To maintain momentum, he’ll have to execute on the recent launches in crowded markets to make up for three of Lilly’s top-selling drugs going off patent in the next two years.

Ricks told BioCentury he plans to draw from the playbook used to build blockbuster franchises for erectile dysfunction drug Cialis tadalafil, which was third to market, and Forteo teriparatide, an injectable agent launched into an osteoporosis market dominated by oral bisphosphonates. ...