Eli Lilly CEO announces retirement

Eli Lilly’s chief executive officer Sidney Taurel has announced that he is to retire from the post on March 31st 2008.

Mr Taurel has confirmed that he will stay on as chairman of the board of directors until the end of 2008 at which time he will depart fully from the company.

He is to be succeeded by Lilly’s current president and chief operating officer John C Lechleiter who will take on the role of president and CEO on April 1st 2008.

Mr Taurel stated that he was “grateful” to have spent over 35 years with the company and “honoured” to have headed up Eli Lilly for the last ten years.

He indicated that 2008 was the right time for him to retire as the company had seen promising growth over the last few years and the current leadership team had a strong vision for the future.

Mr Lechleiter expressed his excitement in taking up the post, following a unanimous decision from the board to elect him as the new chief executive.

Commenting on the future of the company, he asserted: “We will be guided by an exciting new vision for our future that places individual patient outcomes at the core of our endeavours.”

Earlier this month, Eli Lilly announced the appointment of Robert Conley to the company, with Mr Conley joining the firm in January 2008 as a distinguished scholar who will focus on psychotic illnesses including schizophrenia.