Date: May 6, 2013
For Release: Immediately
Refer to: (317) 433-9899, egs@lilly.com - Edward Sagebiel
Lilly Announces CEO Dr. John
Lechleiter to Undergo Scheduled Surgery
INDIANAPOLIS, May 6, 2013-Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)
today announced that John C.
Lechleiter, Ph.D., chairman, president, and chief executive
officer, will undergo scheduled surgery for a dilated aorta on
Monday, May 13, 2013. This condition
was found during unrelated testing and has been asymptomatic.
Lechleiter is expected to make a full recovery and return to his
duties later this summer.
In accordance with the company's bylaws, Derica W. Rice, executive vice president, Global
Services and chief financial officer, will assume the additional
role of acting chief executive officer during Lechleiter's surgery
and recuperation period. Ellen R. Marram, currently the board's
lead independent director, will serve as acting chairperson of the
board of directors. She was appointed as lead independent director
in April 2012.
Rice, 48, has more than 22 years of service with Eli Lilly and
Company, including leadership roles in finance and general
management. He became chief financial officer in 2006 and assumed
leadership of the company's global services organization in
2010.
Marram, 66, is president of the Barnegat Group LLC, her business
advisory firm, and she is also the former CEO of two consumer
products companies. She has served on the Lilly board since 2002
and is also a member of the board of directors of Ford Motor
Company and The New York Times Company.
"I am grateful to be under the care of a world-class medical
team located right here in Indianapolis," said Lechleiter. "The board of
directors and I have the utmost confidence in Ellen, Derica, and
our Lilly leadership team. The company will be in very good hands
during my leave. I look forward to returning to work following my
recovery."
About Eli Lilly and Company Lilly, a leading innovation-driven
corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of pharmaceutical
products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide
laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific
organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers -
through medicines and information - for some of the world's most
urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is
available at www.lilly.com. C-LLY
# # #
Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly Corporate Center
Indianapolis, Indiana 46285
U.S.A.
www.lilly.com