Eli Lilly to Open a Diabetes-Focused Research Center in China

Eli Lilly and Company announced plans to open a research center focused on diabetes in China, where the incidence of the disease has reached epidemic proportions. The center, to open in Shanghai in the second half of 2011, will focus on discovering new medicines to treat diabetes, and reflects both Lilly’s longstanding leadership in this disease area and the priority Lilly places on improving the health of the Chinese people. Jan Lundberg, Ph.D., executive vice president, science and technology, and president, Lilly Research Laboratories said, We are establishing this research center, first and foremost, to meet the growing unmet medical needs of those living in China with diabetes. This center will complement our existing network of collaborations in China and also will enable us to further gain the insights of China’s talented scientists inside and outside of Lilly as we further explore a disease state in need of new and innovative therapies.

Jacques Tapiero, senior vice president and president of Lilly’s emerging markets business area said, Our strategy in China, and throughout the world, is to bring innovation to patients. By establishing a diabetes research center in China, Lilly will be better able to discover medicines that are well suited to the particular needs of patients with diabetes in China.