Anat Ashkenazi has made significant contributions to Eli Lilly's success during her tenure as CFO. Under her financial leadership, the company has experienced substantial growth, with its shares catapulting about 300% and amassing a market value of $791 billion3. Ashkenazi played a key role in managing the windfall in revenue and wave of investor optimism from Eli Lilly's diabetes injection Mounjaro and recently launched obesity drug Zepbound. Her strategic focus on long-term investment to fuel innovation and growth has been recognized by Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
Ashkenazi's diverse career spanning financial, strategy, and operations roles has equipped her with the skills necessary to navigate the complex pharmaceutical industry. During her last three years as Lilly's CFO, she has helped the company reach more patients with its medicines and achieve a market cap of more than $800 billion. This growth was largely driven by the success of Mounjaro and Zepbound, popular antidiabetic medications used for treating type 2 diabetes and for weight loss.
In addition to her financial acumen, Ashkenazi has been instrumental in expanding patient access to treatments and changing long-held misconceptions about obesity. She has worked to improve insurance coverage for weight loss drugs in the U.S. and hopes to increase coverage for patients enrolled in the federal Medicare program. Furthermore, she has been part of the company's efforts to educate society, the healthcare system, and patients about the chronic nature of obesity and the importance of treating it as a disease.
Overall, Anat Ashkenazi's contributions as CFO have been invaluable to Eli Lilly's success, growth, and commitment to addressing significant healthcare challenges.
Eli Lilly is taking several specific steps to manage the soaring demand for its GLP-1 agonist drugs, Zepbound and Mounjaro. These steps include:
Ramping up manufacturing: Eli Lilly is investing heavily in scaling up its manufacturing capabilities to meet the high demand for these treatments. The company has several manufacturing sites either under construction or ramping up in various locations, including North Carolina, Indiana, Ireland, and Germany.
Investing in existing manufacturing footprint: Since 2020, Eli Lilly has spent more than $18 billion to build, expand, and purchase manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Europe. The company plans to funnel revenue and cash flow back into the business to invest in these facilities.
Addressing insurance coverage for weight loss drugs: Eli Lilly is working to improve insurance coverage for its weight loss drug, Zepbound, in the U.S. The company has seen improved commercial coverage, with about 67% of commercial insurance covering the drug as of April 1. The company aims to build access for the remaining patients.
Expanding patient access: Eli Lilly is working to change long-held misconceptions about obesity and make its treatments more accessible to patients. The company is studying tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Zepbound and Mounjaro, in patients with various obesity-related conditions to demonstrate its ability to treat a wide range of health issues.
Educating society about obesity: Eli Lilly is focused on changing the perception of obesity from a lifestyle choice to a chronic disease that requires treatment. The company aims to ensure that the healthcare system and patients understand the need for proper treatment and management of obesity.
Eli Lilly has made significant investments to expand its manufacturing capabilities for GLP-1 agonist drugs, particularly for the production of Zepbound and Mounjaro. The company has more than doubled its investment in its Lebanon, Indiana manufacturing site with a new $5.3 billion commitment. This brings the total investment in the site from $3.7 billion to $9 billion. The expansion will enhance Lilly's capacity to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) for Zepbound (tirzepatide) injection and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) injection6.
Since 2020, Lilly has committed more than $16 billion to develop new manufacturing sites in the U.S. and Europe. New locations outside Indiana include Research Triangle Park and Concord, North Carolina; Limerick, Ireland; and Alzey, Germany. Separately, the company has invested an additional $1.2 billion to update existing manufacturing facilities in Indianapolis and recently acquired an injectable manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, from Nexus Pharmaceuticals. Together, these manufacturing investments total more than $18 billion.
As part of the additional investment in the Lebanon site, Lilly expects to add 200 full-time jobs for highly skilled workers such as engineers, scientists, operating personnel, and lab technicians, resulting in an estimated 900 full-time employees when the facility is fully operational. Additionally, there will be more than 5,000 construction jobs during the site's development. The company expects to begin making medicines in Lebanon toward the end of 2026 – with operations scaling up through 2028.