WEBVTT - Dave Ricks 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.400 One of the most transformative drugs on the market today 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:08.800 are anti obesity drugs. One of the leaders in producing 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:12.080 those drugs is Eli Lilly. It has transformed itself over 0:00:12.119 --> 0:00:14.600 the last five years to accompany that's now the most 0:00:14.680 --> 0:00:17.959 valuable pharmaceutical company in the world. I sat down with 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:21.480 Dave Rix recently to talk about it's anti obesity phenomenon 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:25.160 and how it is transforming America. Let's talk about these 0:00:25.960 --> 0:00:29.080 phenomenon that's changed the world to some extent. Which is 0:00:29.120 --> 0:00:31.280 the anti obesity drug? 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:32.879 Now? To make sure everybody's on the. 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:36.360 Same page links, what is the name of your anti 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:37.360 obesity drug? 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:42.479 Okay, so the name is zep bound. The active ingredients 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:43.520 called their zepetide. 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:46.520 So, by the way, who comes up with these names? 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:49.440 Where do you raise names? Not me, David me. 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:51.760 We can't have names that are similar to each other 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:54.520 because doctors make prescribing hers. We can't have names that 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:56.880 make claims about what the drug does, and we can't 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.040 have names that only work in English. 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:00.960 So we end up with these sounding names. 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.480 When was that discovered and is that ever the intention 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:04.920 when the drug was being developed? 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:08.240 Yeah, pretty early on. So we launched the first GLP 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:09.720 one medication in the world. 0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:11.759 In two thousand and five. It was called exendotide. 0:01:12.160 --> 0:01:14.880 It was a twice daily injection and it was indicated 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:17.200 for people with diabetes. But that was the first effort. 0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:19.679 On the cover of our the next year, our annual 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:21.480 report is a woman who was using the drug and 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:23.920 she said, my diabetes is under control, and I noticed 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:26.160 I'm losing a little weight. Actually two thousand and six, 0:01:26.440 --> 0:01:29.200 it's a cover of our anal report. But we had 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:33.240 to improve the medicines to really make them effective for 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:38.200 weight loss. One big improvement was to make them weekly. 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:42.440 That's a convenience benefit, but even more important, the. 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:44.520 Action of the. 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:47.640 Medicine flatter, meaning more consistent through the day and night. 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:49.960 When we had it twice a day, there were ups 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.640 and downs, and one effect of GLP one medications is 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:57.160 they cause nausea and other gi distress. That's a function 0:01:57.240 --> 0:01:59.720 of the up and down in your system. So when 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:01.960 we made weekly, it was flatter and we could dose 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:03.240 higher to see. 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:04.360 More weight loss. 0:02:04.680 --> 0:02:07.160 So that was sort of an accidental breakthrough of trying 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:08.520 to make a more convenient form. 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:11.280 Now there's another company that is sort of in the 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:11.960 same business. 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:13.600 No Vote Nor it is Yes. 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:18.639 Which is in Denmark, and they have a similar product, 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:21.720 and they have a product that does the same thing. 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:25.480 One is for obesity anti obesity, and one is for. 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:28.720 Diabetes and correct. Is there really any difference in terms 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:29.320 of the drugs. 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:29.919 There are. 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:32.680 There's no difference really between the name the drug that's 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:35.480 named for diabetes versus name for obesity for either company. 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:37.600 We do that for insurance reasons we could talk about. 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:41.000 But tre Zeppetide is the latest version. It has two 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:44.240 modes of action. So right now, because you just ate lunch, 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:47.760 your GI track is communicating with the rest of your body. 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:51.000 It's communicating with hormones or proteins and telling it that 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:54.480 you've been fed and you need to absorb nutrients and 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:58.520 other things that are essentible life because food is essential life. 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:02.560 What we're doing boosting some of those signals with these medications. 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:06.240 They're boosting the signal that you're full, boosting the signal 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:07.800 that you no longer want to eat more, and boosting 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:11.920 signals that you should absorb nutrients that you've consumed. And 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.399 so ours does that with two different hormones, one called 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:19.560 GLP one another new one called gip ozepic or semaglue 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:21.120 tide just uses GLP one. 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:23.720 But what the drug does is what it tells your 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:25.880 body you're full. When you're maybe not as full as 0:03:25.880 --> 0:03:26.320 you used to be. 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:30.079 It tells your body you're full, and it does that 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:33.919 to the brain sense of saiety. Probably we've learned over 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:39.200 time our sense of fullness becomes conditional. So as people 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:43.200 eat more habitually, that signal kicks in later and later, 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:47.120 and that's a cause and consequence of obesity. 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:48.839 It does other things too. 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:53.960 It actually makes your stomach fuller because it slows gastric motility, 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:59.120 so it slows down your nutrients, which seems counterintuitive, but 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:02.720 when you eat in when our ancestors were alive ten 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:04.680 thousand years ago, meals were rare and you want to 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:07.000 absorb all the nutrients out of it. So that signal said, 0:04:07.040 --> 0:04:08.320 absorb the nutrients all right. 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:10.680 I don't want to confuse people, but there are four 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:13.480 different names that people should know for these drugs. Now 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:17.720 you have an ANTIBCD drug which is called what zepounepbound, 0:04:17.839 --> 0:04:19.640 and then you have a diabetes drug which is. 0:04:19.600 --> 0:04:22.360 Called manjarro, same medicine, suferent names. 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:24.160 There was a study that was just came out a 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:26.960 couple of days ago. I think that said one on 0:04:26.960 --> 0:04:31.320 one comparing the two. Your drug anti OBEs drug loses 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.760 weight more rapidly for people than the other product. 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:34.920 Is that right? 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:35.360 Rapidly? 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:38.919 And more so forty seven percent more so After a 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.400 year and a half, roughly, people on our drug loss 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:42.800 seventeen more pounds. 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:43.760 Then on we go. 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:46.320 Why do people need to lose so much weight in 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:48.960 this country? Our country has, as I got it right, 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:51.960 seventy five percent of the people are overweight and forty 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.359 two percent are obese. When it all of a sudden 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:55.720 we become so obese? 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:59.320 Yeah, if you look at the epidemiology charts, it really 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:03.480 seems to started in the sixties growth in overweight and 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:07.920 obesity in the country, and really accelerated in the eighties 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:08.560 and nineties. 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:09.839 What are the reasons? 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.919 How we live certainly is one of them, and energy 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:15.599 expenditure has to be part of the story. What we eat, though, 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:19.600 is probably a more important reason, not just the quantity 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:23.800 which has risen modestly through that period of time, but 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:26.640 actually what's in our food has changed, and I think 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:28.800 that's also attributed to this. 0:05:28.960 --> 0:05:31.960 All right, So back to the drug. When you realized 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.479 they could lose weight. Did you get the FDA to say, yes, 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:37.880 it can be prescribed for losing weight, or it's still 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:39.560 you can't get that prescribed for you. 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:40.080 No. 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:42.720 No. As of last year, we have found launched it's 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:43.599 for weight loss. 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:47.640 And do insurance companies reimburse people for the cost of 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:48.360 these drugs? 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:54.320 Some do, more should so as of today, the federal 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:59.360 government actually has a prohibition on reimbursing any of these drugs, which. 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:00.200 Is a problem. 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.360 I think although the Biden administration just as advanced rulemaking 0:06:03.440 --> 0:06:05.719 to change that. That's good news, and we hope the 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:07.640 next administration will continue that process. 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.280 So if losing weight makes you healthier, why would people 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:15.120 who care about insurance reimbursement medicare and not insist on 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:17.560 paying for this because it would make you healthier and 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:19.919 therefore you don't have other diseases yet that they have 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:20.680 to reimburse you for. 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:22.640 I think in four or five years we'll look back 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:25.640 and say, yeah, that's what should have happened, and it's 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:28.400 silly that we don't pay for what is already known 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:31.200 to be a primary contributor to poor health, which is 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.599 excess body weight. But you know, do people have different 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:38.200 motives and incentives. Maybe your employer has a stronger interest 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:40.960 in your long term health. That's probably why many have 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:41.559 stepped forward. 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:42.440 And then evidence. 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:44.839 Our job is to make the evidence produce the evidence 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.839 that we're not just having people lose weight, but losing 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:50.640 weight with our medicine causes improved health. And we have 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.000 many studies out this year that are demonstrating that. 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:55.960 So to take this medicine, you have to inject yourself 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:56.480 for less. 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:58.159 Yeah, well why not just go to a pill? 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:02.360 A great idea. Yeah, we're working on that. 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:07.040 The injection you have to inject because it's a protein 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:10.720 and if we orally take proteins, your body thinks it's 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.280 food and it breaks up proteins. So you cannot really 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:15.640 take these drugs oily. You have to bypass the GI 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:19.200 track even though it's affecting, and go right to the bloodstream. 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:21.840 But we are working on a pill. We'll have some 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:25.200 data actually as early as next year. It's a GLP 0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:27.000 one only it's a single acting It's not going to 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:28.960 be as good as trs appetite as that bound. It 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:31.400 be about as good as oozempic, we hope, and this 0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:32.720 would be a once daily pill. 0:07:32.960 --> 0:07:35.119 Some people say that if you go on this drug, 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:38.800 you have side effects that are not completely desirable. 0:07:39.120 --> 0:07:39.880 Is that true? 0:07:40.160 --> 0:07:43.840 All drugs that work have side effects and sometimes on 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:46.360 twitter effects, and we have to warn against both of those. 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:48.880 That's why we do controlled studies and measure them carefully. 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:53.080 Many people have mild to moderate GI distress when they start. 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:55.400 That's why we ty trate. We started a low dose. 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:58.520 We recommend a low dose and go up slowly. Almost 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:01.760 everybody stays on the dr and goes through that and 0:08:01.800 --> 0:08:04.280 by the third or fourth month really don't have any 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:05.360 effects any more of. 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:05.680 That at all. 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.160 Let's suppose you take the drug and say, I've lost weight, 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:09.840 I'm very happy with my body. 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:11.200 Now I'm going to get off the drug. 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:14.480 Some people say that there are it's very difficult to 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:15.480 not regain the weight. 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:18.559 That's right, and science tells us that there's a reason 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:24.200 for that. Some people do maintain the weight reduction or 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:27.240 stay in that range. They have to change a lot 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.320 about how they live, burn more energy, eat different foods. 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:31.680 So we can all try that. 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:35.360 I think we should all try that, actually, but some 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:39.000 people cannot. And there's a recent paper in Nature that 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:42.760 actually told us why, which is that once you have 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:45.439 become obese, your fat sales learned that that's their new 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:49.720 state and they defend that state, and so they're actually 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:53.120 wanting more energy and that sends signals to your brain 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:56.520 and so forth. So once we as adults gain weight 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:59.079 and have that on for a while, it's very very 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:02.439 difficult to reset your thermostat if you would to reset 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:05.760 that level. So for now we do recommend if they 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:08.840 can't people cannot maintain weight loss off the drug, to 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:11.320 go back on the drugs and use them chronically. 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:15.479 Let's talk about Eli Lilly itself. When was his company started. 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:19.520 Eighteen seventy six, So started by a Colonel Eli Lilly who. 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:20.480 Served in the Civil War. 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:23.360 He was a pharmacist by training, led an infantry and 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.079 artillery company, and was a prisoner of war in Alabama actually, 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:31.640 and he saw firsthand the atrocities of medical care in 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:33.560 the Civil War. So he started a company with a 0:09:33.600 --> 0:09:35.559 pledge to say everything that's in this is. 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:39.560 On the label. If it's in there, you know about it. Transparency. 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.800 And that then evolved into a company that embraced the 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:47.280 scientific method and began to really adopt the methods that 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:50.280 the modern industry has, which is then taking natural products, 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.360 which is what most medicines were in eighteen seventy six, 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.240 and refining them into what we think of as a medicine. Now. 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.840 When Eli Lilly evolved over the years in the twentieth century, 0:09:58.960 --> 0:09:59.959 what were its big product? 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:03.200 Yeah, so insulin really was the birth of the modern company. 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.320 And this was obviously a terrible condition, type one diabetes 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.040 and a breakthrough, and we were part of commercializing that 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.480 around the world, invented the manufacturing method and created that 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:16.400 business that was followed by actually penicillin. So during World 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:18.720 War Two, Lily was commissioned as one of the manufacturers 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:22.240 for antibiotics for the army and we from there then 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:27.400 iterated for forty years antibiotics, including still some that are 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.680 used today like bankamasin, which is the last line of 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:34.360 defense for the worst infections. Prozac we're famous for, which 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:37.360 has really brought modern psychiatry into the fold. 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:39.360 And of course, now manjar O. 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:42.360 And zep bound, what are the human problems you're working 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.680 on in the future. Alzheimer's, I assume is one of them. 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:47.040 Absolutely, Yeah, So we think about our company. Of course, 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:51.079 we use scientific methods to create medicines to solve tough problems. 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:54.360 We're not really interested in niche problems. We think we're 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:56.960 here because we're a big company to do hard problems 0:10:56.960 --> 0:11:00.240 that are scalable. That's sort of where makes our business work, 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.600 but also is the most human impact. So we select 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:06.280 these diseases that are common and tough. So you mentioned Alzheimer's, 0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:09.520 NERD degenerative conditions or the most frightening conditions. Most people 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:13.720 think about Parkinson's als Alzheimer's and the science. We've been 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:16.320 investing there for thirty years. We just launched our first 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:18.720 medicine and so now we're getting revenue after thirty years 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:21.640 on that project, and we're working on a prevention study 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:24.520 for that same medicine, which could really transform Alzheimer's. We 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:27.720 think other NERD to generic conditions like Parkinson's, als, et cetera, 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.520 are becoming more tractable with science, and you'll see us 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:32.440 invest heavily in that area going forward. 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:35.640 Are you concerned about the new administration coming into power? 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:38.920 Have you met with President electromp talk about your issues. 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:41.080 Healthcare is always a topic and so then our role 0:11:41.120 --> 0:11:44.760 in it and medicine affordability is a key area. 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:46.240 I think everyone would like. 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:50.040 The US have a strong biopharma industry that have beens 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.320 amazing medicines like setbound and makes them here like Lily does. 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:55.600 But at the same time, we want our things to 0:11:55.600 --> 0:11:56.199 be cheap and. 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:57.200 Accessible to all. 0:11:57.840 --> 0:12:00.560 Okay, that's hard to solve for all those things, but 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:02.839 we can make progress. Like one example is we were 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:07.400 known for the insulin pricing challenges we had, and insulin 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:10.839 was overpriced in the US, according to the critics, and 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:13.040 we were able to bring that price down. I think 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:15.760 there are solutions and by engaging we can find them. 0:12:15.800 --> 0:12:17.760 Have you met with anybody in the new administration yet? 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:18.040 Yeah? 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:19.600 I think it was reported last week we had a 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:20.840 dinner down in Florida. 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:23.200 How was that, Like, did they serve up fattening food 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:24.200 or they don't do that with you? 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:29.440 Probably shouldn't say too much about it, but it was 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:31.600 all you could imagine and a little bit more. 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:34.040 Yeah. 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:37.680 Well, let's talk about your own background. Where were you born? 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:38.280 Yeah? 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:40.720 I was born in Bloomington, Indiana, So who's your by birth? 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:43.160 But my dad was a grad student at IU at 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:44.920 the time, and we quickly left. 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:45.679 And moved to California. 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.160 My mom was from California and I grew up in 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:50.800 the Bay Area and then followed in their footsteps and 0:12:50.840 --> 0:12:52.840 went to Purdue University back in Indiana. 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:54.120 And what did you study there? 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:57.200 So I started studying business and engineering, ended up with 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.120 a degree industrial management, which combines those two. I went 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:02.840 to work for IBM in New York. I joined the 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:04.680 stock wasn't an all time hime when I left, it 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:06.959 was an all time low. They had a tough time 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:07.920 in the early nineties. 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:10.800 She went to join ELI Lilly in what year? 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:14.280 So I left IBM to follow my girlfriend who's now 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.400 my wife, who was going to medical school at Indiana University. 0:13:17.440 --> 0:13:20.520 So again back to Indiana, and I needed somebody to 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:22.600 do there, so I decided to enroll in their MBA 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:25.520 program and I got an MBA. Of course, medicine's a 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:28.320 four year degree, NBA's two. So I still needed somebody 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:29.760 to do in Indiana, so I joined Lily. 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:31.440 What was your position at the beginning? 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:34.400 Yeah, I was in the department that looked at M 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:38.440 and A transactions in the finance and Business Development group 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:40.240 and the great introduction to. 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:41.680 The Did you ever say I'm going to be the 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:43.360 CEO someday or something like that? 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:43.640 Not? 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.800 Then I actually really was thinking I'll be here for 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:48.720 two years and then we'll be off to Chicago or 0:13:48.760 --> 0:13:50.320 San Francisco and do something different. 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:52.160 But I fell in love with the company. 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:57.000 I mean, it's an amazing place. It's a very humanistic culture, 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:01.839 but yet very rigorous and scientific, so it's demanding smart people, 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:02.959 but people are nice. 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:03.240 To each other. 0:14:03.280 --> 0:14:05.560 It's the Midwest, and I fell in love with the mission, 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:09.600 which is what could be better than making medicine for people. 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.240 I worked on a medicine to collaborate and bring into 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:15.600 the company for diabetes, and right as I was leaving 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.720 that job, my mother was diagnosed with diabetes and she 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:22.120 was put on that medicine, and so the sort of 0:14:22.160 --> 0:14:25.160 the point of what we do just became super salient 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:26.480 for me, and I said, this is not a bad 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:28.080 way to spend my time. 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:29.960 And I said to my wife, let's stay here. 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:31.880 When did you realize that you were on a track 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:32.720 to be the CEO? 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:34.880 Was it five years post? For later? 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:36.440 Well? 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:39.920 So I worked in that job, and then I had 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:42.800 some jobs running markets. I ran our Canadian business and 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:44.720 then went to China for two and a half years 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:47.680 and ran our Chinese business. And I was suddenly called 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:50.600 back from China by the CEO who was a new CEO, 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:52.480 and he said you need to come run our US business. 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:54.480 And said, John, do't you want me to finish the job? 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:56.920 He said, you need to come back. I think that 0:14:57.040 --> 0:14:59.920 was the point where I was sort of being cultivated 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:01.160 for big something bigger. 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:04.280 You now have three children, Yeah, for a while. 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:09.680 I've had three children. Yea, Yes, they're young adults. 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:12.600 Now, okay, all right, But are any of them interested 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.640 in weight reduction programs or things like. 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:16.480 That or not really? 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:20.280 Well, so my son, he's an AI consultant, so not 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:23.560 so much. My daughter is actually getting master's in sell 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:26.400 biology and interested in med school, so she's thinking about 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:29.720 medicine and medical science. And we talk a lot about 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:32.200 the weight loss drugs. And my youngest son is a 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:34.800 geology student that produe, so we'll see what he does. 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:36.960 So what do you do for relaxation to stay in shape? 0:15:37.160 --> 0:15:40.520 You're not on one of these drugs? I think because 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:42.280 you look very fit and exercise a lot. 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:45.440 Yeah I'm not, but I would never hesitate to be 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.920 on one if I needed it. But the best medicine 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:52.359 is prevention, and so you know, paying attention to exercise 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:54.240 is something I've always cared about It's a way I 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:57.840 reduce stress too. So I loved running, and now I 0:15:57.880 --> 0:16:00.600 don't run anymore, but I do other things like hiking. 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:05.320 I love backcountry skiing and the outdoors, play golf. Being 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:08.960 outside is where I find both fitness and peace. 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:12.480 You've had an astounding success at ELI, Lelly. Suppose a 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:14.240 president of the United States said you should be the 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:18.120 secretary of HHS or something like that, what would you say. 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:21.320 You know, the company, as you've pointed out graciously, is 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:24.440 really doing well, but you know, we really have a 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:26.920 strong desire to do even more, and we're just at 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:30.280 the beginning of this weight loss story. You know, right 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:33.040 now there's six or seven million Americans who are taking 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:35.280 these medicines. There are one hundred and ten million with obesity. 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:38.120 We need to build more plants and develop more data, 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:40.680 get in better insurance coverage, and then there's the whole 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:43.400 world to cover. It's projected in five years there'll be 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:46.440 a billion people on the planet who have obesity, and 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.000 it's going to become a much bigger problem in the 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:51.440 developing world than it ever has been in America. 0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:54.680 When you have drugs that are very, very popular that 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:58.120 you often have people that make counterfeit or copycat drugs. 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:00.800 What about for this do you have to worry about 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:03.120 counterfeit drugs coming in that are trying to say the 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:03.560 same thing. 0:17:03.640 --> 0:17:06.280 It's a terrible problem right now, actually, because I think 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:07.800 consumers don't really know. 0:17:07.920 --> 0:17:09.280 The dangers or the difference. 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:14.080 Today, the FDA and the government has allowed this to 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:15.160 sort of grow. 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:17.120 And of course a weight. 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:19.399 Loss medication that's effected would be a popular thing for 0:17:19.440 --> 0:17:22.159 people to go around the healthcare system and seek treatment 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.440 on their own. But the data we have is that 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:27.720 eighty percent of these medicines are coming out of China 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:32.480 from unapproved and unregulated sources. We recently with Borders and 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:36.200 Customs seized a big batch that was shipped in dog food. 0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:41.680 People then reformulate them and sell them locally in medspas 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:44.760 and other outfits. But you really don't know what's in 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:47.320 that vile We buy them and test them, we find bacteria, 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:49.360 plant material, viruses, fungus. 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:51.040 You do not want to be using. 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:54.119 But how much more expensive are your drugs than the 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:56.800 counterfeit ones? In other words, if somebody wants to use 0:17:57.880 --> 0:18:02.000 your product zep bound, how much does it cost a month? 0:18:02.160 --> 0:18:04.680 You can buy zepbound direct from Lily for three ninety 0:18:04.760 --> 0:18:05.880 nine for the starter do. 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:07.520 Eight dollars and ninety nine cents. 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.920