The Visionary
The future, and what is barely possible, reads round the next corner.
Dave Ricks reads as The Visionary, the archetype of leaders who orient an institution toward a future others cannot yet see. As chairman and chief executive of Eli Lilly, he leads a company whose value rests on long scientific horizons, and his register in conversation with David Rubenstein reflects that forward posture.
“Yeah, so insulin really was the birth of the modern company, and this was obviously a terrible condition type 1 diabetes and a breakthrough, and we were part of commercializing that around the world, invented the manufacturing method, and created that business. That was followed by actually penicillin.”
“1876. So started by a colonel Eli Lilly, who served in the Civil War. He was a pharmacist by training, led infantry and artillery company, and was a prisoner of war in Alabama, actually. And he saw firsthand the atrocities of medical care in the Civil War.”
“Healthcare is always a topic, and so then our role in it and medicine affordability is a key area. I think everyone would like the U.S. to have a strong biopharma industry that invents amazing medicines like Setbound and makes them here, like Lily does. But at the same time, we want our things to be cheap and accessible to all.”
“I think in four or five years we'll look back and say, yeah, that's what should have happened. And it's silly that we don't pay for what is already known to be a primary contributor to poor health, which is excess body weight. But people have different motives and incentives.”
The David Rubenstein Show: “Dave Ricks”
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