1 hr ago
Lilly CEO Sees India Playing Larger Role in Drug Innovation
Lilly is a large drug company that wants India to become more important to its research work.
The company already sells medicines in India and has been there for more than 30 years.
It launched Mounjaro, a medicine for diabetes and weight management, in India in 2025.
Lilly is also studying new medicines that could help people lose weight or control blood sugar.
One experimental drug, retatrutide, helped some study participants lose an average of 20.8% of their body weight over 80 weeks.
Another medicine, Foundayo, is taken as a daily pill instead of an injection.
Lilly is testing combinations of medicines to see whether they can produce greater weight loss.
Dave Ricks said Indian universities, startups, and research groups could help create the next important medicines.
Lilly CEO Dave Ricks said India could contribute more to the company’s future drug innovation.
Lilly launched Mounjaro in India in 2025 and later partnered with Cipla on its distribution and promotion.
The company is presenting new data on retatrutide, Foundayo, and EloraTZP at the EASD 2026 meeting in Milan.
In a late-stage study, the highest retatrutide dose produced average weight loss of 20.8% over 80 weeks among people with obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Lilly has more than 4,000 employees in India and is expanding its technology, research, and partnership capabilities there.
- Who
- Eli Lilly and Company CEO Dave Ricks and the company’s India operations.
- What
- Lilly is expanding its Indian business and seeking a larger role for India in global drug research and innovation.
- Where
- India and the EASD 2026 meeting in Milan.
- When
- Lilly launched Mounjaro in India in 2025; new pipeline data are being presented at the EASD 2026 meeting.
- Why
- Lilly wants to develop its cardiometabolic medicines while connecting Indian scientific ideas with the expertise, capabilities, and partnerships needed to advance them.
Key facts
- Company
- Eli Lilly and Company
- CEO
- Dave Ricks
- India presence
- More than three decades
- Indian workforce
- More than 4,000 employees
- India launch
- Mounjaro launched in 2025 for type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management
- Indian partner
- Cipla is partnering with Lilly on tirzepatide’s distribution and promotion
- Retatrutide result
- The highest dose produced average weight loss of 20.8% over 80 weeks in a late-stage study of people with obesity and type 2 diabetes
Quotes
Dave Ricks
Chief executive officer of Eli Lilly
“The next transformative idea can emerge from a university laboratory, a startup founder, a research institute, or an entrepreneur pursuing a challenge that others may have overlooked.”
businesstoday.in
“The potential of an oral GLP-1 that can deliver meaningful weight loss and glycemic control could be an important option for people living with obesity and type 2 diabetes”
businesstoday.in
Sources
Related news
Mounjaro Becomes India’s Top-Selling Drug Amid GLP-1 Shift
India’s Weight-Loss Drug Boom Fuels Fake Mounjaro Market
GLP-1 Therapy Drives Demand for Convenient Protein Supplements
Retatrutide Shows Potential to Deliver Twice Ozempic’s Weight Loss
GLP-1 Weight Loss Requires Metabolic Health, Diagnosis And Supervision
