Lilly Announces New Leadership and Strategy in Oncology Research and Development

New organization to combine speed and agility of Loxo with scale and capabilities of Lilly

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Dec 05, 2019, 06:30 ET

INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced new leadership and strategic direction in oncology R&D, combining the Lilly Research Laboratories (LRL) oncology organization and Loxo Oncology, which was acquired by Lilly in early 2019. The new organization, named Loxo Oncology at Lilly, will be led jointly by Josh Bilenker, M.D., Jacob Van Naarden, and Nisha Nanda, Ph.D., and will report into Daniel Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D., Lilly's chief scientific officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories. Lilly today also announced that David Hyman, M.D. will join the leadership team as chief medical officer of the new organization, beginning in January 2020. Dr. Hyman currently serves as chief of the Early Drug Development Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

"The Loxo Oncology acquisition has brought talented people and new approaches to Lilly, and we are excited by what we can achieve by incorporating their discovery and development philosophy at a much larger scale. With the addition of Dr. Hyman, we are further strengthening our leadership team in oncology," said Skovronsky. "We will focus our efforts on biology insights with the greatest near-term potential for patients. We intend to curate a balanced pipeline of medicines—whether internally or externally discovered—to help even more people with cancer around the world and position Lilly as a premier oncology company."

The new combined organization will be responsible for discovery research across therapeutic modalities, clinical development and regulatory affairs for oncology. As new medicines approach US regulatory approval, program responsibility will transition to Lilly's Oncology Business Unit, led by Anne White, for continued clinical development, commercialization and medical affairs support.

The new Loxo Oncology at Lilly organization will have an expanded global presence, with team members in Boulder, Colorado; Indianapolis, Indiana; New York City, New York; South San Francisco, California; Stamford, Connecticut; and Madrid, Spain.

Areas of focus for Loxo Oncology at Lilly currently include registration of selpercatinib (a selective RET inhibitor), and clinical development of LOXO-305 (a selective, non-covalent BTK inhibitor), LY3499446 (a selective, covalent KRAS G12C inhibitor), and LY3484356 (a selective estrogen receptor degrader). The new organization will also pursue acquisition and in-licensing opportunities. In connection with these changes, development of several early clinical-stage programs will be wound down and terminated. Further details will be provided during Lilly's Q4 2019 earnings call, scheduled for January 30, 2020.

About Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly is a global health care leader that unites caring with discovery to create medicines that make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at lilly.com and lilly.com/newsroom. C-LLY

Refer to:	Lauren Cohen; [email protected]; (617) 678-2067 – Loxo media
	Nicole Hebert; [email protected]; (317) 701-9984 – Lilly media
	Kevin Hern; [email protected]; (317) 277-1838 – investors