INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — Eli Lilly & Co. CEO David Ricks on Tuesday said the company is investing heavily in artificial intelligence as well as follow-ons to its early weight-loss drugs.
Ricks' comments came during an event celebrating the company's 150th anniversary. Company founder Col. Eli Lilly opened his first laboratory in a small storefront on Pearl Street on May 10, 1876.
Tuesday's anniversary celebration was emceed by former Colts quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning and included remarks from Gov. Mike Braun, Mayor Joe Hogsett and state legislative leaders.
Ricks said "we're in the early innings" on weight-loss drugs, also called GLP-1 drugs within the pharmaceutical industry. He said Lilly is working on more than half a dozen new GLP-1 medications designed to address side effects that have been reported with some of the company's earlier efforts. Ricks said Lilly is also working on more powerful drugs designed to help people who are severely overweight.
In a speech to employees marking the anniversary, Ricks said artificial intelligence is speeding up the process of designing and researching drugs. He told reporters afterward the company already is looking for ways to use AI to automate manufacturing processes that are unsafe or repetitive. He said the company has the most powerful supercomputer in the pharmaceutical industry. Ricks also said to expect more from the company on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or ALS.
"The brain is maybe the final frontier of biology and medicine, but Lilly's at the front edge of that," he said. "We're all touched and moved by the need, and we want to go faster, but sometimes nature doesn't reveal its secrets all at once."
