Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) CEO John Lechleiter has revealed in a discussion on Fox Business Network that he is anticipating more advances in the industry’s fight against cancer.
The Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) CEO was initially congratulated about his company’s 10-year-high performance. Lechleiter said in jest that he thinks this is because he has been interviewed on Fox Business more often lately.
The CEO then added that he thinks the current performance of his company is because people are starting to see the company’s product pipeline bear fruit. He noted that Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) has gotten two product approvals this years and that they are aiming to get a third before the year closes.
The network’s Maria Bartiromo then shifted the discussion to Europe in light of the company’s good performance in China and Japan. According to Lechleiter, Europe is “tough” at the moment. This is because it is usually governments who pay for medicine Europe, the CEO noted, and governments in the region are looking to cut as much cost as possible. Furthermore, the Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) boss revealed that his company has actually had to negotiate with governments in Europe about their products. Nonetheless, he said that he is hopeful about Europe’s recovery.
In terms of emerging markets, Lechleiter said that outlook in the industry suggests that about two-thirds of growth in this current decade will come from emerging markets. With this said, the growth of economies in the emerging markets will drive demand for better healthcare, the CEO added. Saying that there will always be ups and downs, the CEO said that he is optimistic about the long-term prospects for emerging markets.
Lechleiter then agreed with Bartiromo that it is a truly exciting time in terms of developments happening in the melding of technology and healthcare. Lechleiter noted that he thinks the industry is now benefiting from the foundations they laid in the 1990s in this field.
As for cancer medicines, the Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) CEO said:
“I think we’re making progress. Look, when I graduated from college in 1975, if you were diagnosed with cancer, your chances of living five years was 50%. It was a coin toss. Today, for all forms of cancer, if you’re diagnosed, your chances of being alive five years from that point is now approaching 70%. How have we done that? We’ve done that in small bites over a long period of time. Now with new areas like immuno-oncology, new diagnostic techniques that let us really detail what type of cancer [this is], and more tailored approaches, I think we’re in store for some further advances in the years ahead. I really do.”
Watch the discussion below.
Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) shareholders includes Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies which reported about 5.26 million shares in the company by the end of March. Another shareholder is D E Shaw which reported about 2.23 million shares in the company during the same period.
Disclosure: None
