 New Lilly R&D chief plans bold moves to recharge pipeline |
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As a young student in his native Sweden, Jan M. Lundberg played ice hockey for his college team and dreamed of moving up to the pros. Ultimately, he decided a sports career was too much of a long shot and turned his sights to science.
But he didn\'t lose his taste for blunt sports talk.
Shortly after settling into his new job last month as Eli Lilly and Co.\'s top executive for research and development, Lundberg broadcast a satellite message to 7,000 Lilly physicians, scientists and other R&D staffers around the world. He put his message in words any Indianapolis Colts fan could understand, on the heels of the Super Bowl loss.
\"We can\'t drop the ball like the Colts did in Miami,\" he said.
The message: No fumbles. No turnovers. No excuses. Just put points on the board.
It\'s been decades since Lundberg played organized hockey, but he still shows a competitive streak. He speaks of Lilly\'s \"winning attitude,\" its \"competitive strengths\" and the importance of \"exploiting the assets.\" Eager to learn American sports, he has already attended two Colts games since arriving in Indianapolis from Stockholm.
Like any passionate competitor, Lundberg is taking on a huge challenge, perhaps the largest in Lilly\'s 134-year history. His mission: to crank up the company\'s struggling pipeline and deliver on Lilly\'s goal to launch two new drugs a year, starting in 2013.
If Lundberg fails, the company could find itself critically weakened over the next decade. Lilly needs a steady launch of new products to replace blockbusters that are about to lose their patent exclusivity, beginning next year, and that now account for more than half of sales.
Meanwhile, Lilly has said it has no plans to merge with another big drug company, as some competitors have done. That has increased the pressure on the company\'s own laboratories to deliver.
\"At this point, the key to Lilly\'s success is executing on its pipeline, because they have decided not to go the acquisition route,\" said Linda Bannister, a drug industry analyst at Edward Jones in St. Louis. \"It\'s really critical that they deliver.\"
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http://www.indystar.com/article/20100228/BUSINESS/2280331/Lilly-R-D-chief-is-out-to-recharge-pipelin
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