Lilly

Eli Lilly and Co. has announced changes in the company’s senior leadership team. Alex M. Azar II will be joining the company as senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications, reporting directly to chairman and chief executive officer Sidney Taurel. He will be a member of the company’s policy and strategy committee, the corporate operations committee, and the senior management council.

Mr. Azar will lead the company’s teams that are responsible for international, federal, and state government affairs, public policy planning and development, external and internal communications, corporate branding, and community and public relations. He will also lead the company’s efforts in maximizing the value of health information technology and in fighting against the spread of counterfeit medicines.

He was previously U.S.Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he supervised all operations of the HHS, including the regulation of food and drugs, Medicare, Medicaid, medical research, public health, welfare, child and family services, disease prevention, Indian health, mental health services, emergency preparedness and response, and many other activities. Agencies under his direction included, among others, the FDA, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was a key member of President Bush’s leadership team, contributing extensive policy, legal, and management expertise.

“We are very pleased to have someone of Alex’s caliber join the leadership team here at Lilly,” said Taurel. “He brings a combination of distinguished government service and private practice, and he has a track record of strong leadership. Alex has been a leading advocate for the role that pharmaceuticals play in preventing, treating and curing disease, and he will be a great addition to the company.”

Anne Nobles will assume the role of vice president for compliance and enterprise risk management, and she will serve as Lilly’s chief compliance officer. Nobles, a graduate of Harvard University and Georgetown University Law School, has been with Lilly for more than 16 years and has held a variety of leadership roles in public affairs, regulatory affairs, public policy, business customer strategies, product team leadership, and corporate affairs. She will report directly to Taurel and will be a member of both the corporate operations committee and the senior management council.

Said Taurel, “Anne’s legal background and her broad experiences here at Lilly make her the ideal person to assume the role of the company’s chief compliance officer. We are committed to conducting ourselves with integrity and to being in compliance with all laws and regulations, and having someone with Anne’s qualifications in this important role is evidence of this commitment.”