Improving the health of the drugs industry(2)

Scientific spirit

Lechleiter's devotion to innovation and his hardworking spirit may be attributed to his scientific background. Having earned a doctorate from Harvard University in the US, he joined Lilly in 1979 as a chemist and was put in a series of R&D management positions between 1982 and 1993. Even after being promoted to vice-president and then top leader of the company, Lechleiter says he still likes to visit laboratories.

"I think my background as a scientist is important in this industry in particular because it enables me to sort of understand the basic aspect of our business, which is R&D," the 60-year-old said, adding that his early-stage career as an engineer made him realize that in the pharmaceutical business, in order to get anything done, it requires excellent teamwork combined with consistency and diligence.

Moving from an engineer to a CEO is not an easy route, Lechleiter said, admitting that the greatest challenge is "you have to learn that you really get results through people".

"When I worked in the lab, whatever results I got were on the basis of work that I did. When you become a manager you have to learn that what is important is to help other people get results. That's an important transition," he said.

Now at Lilly, 13 people directly report to Lechleiter - a diversified team with lots of opinions on any subject. Thorough discussions, challenges and debates, then agreement is the usual procedure.

"Lilly is very much a consensus-driven company," he said, adding that scientific methods help him be a more effective leader in the company.

"As the new VP of corporate and government affairs for Lilly China, I have found it so encouraging to work with John (Lechleiter) during his China trip (in early March)," said Vivien Chen, vice-president of Lilly China.

During the course of one week, Chen's team organized a total of 15 meetings, both internally and externally, for the global CEO, who was able to engage all of them without much of a break in between.

"John impressed me deeply with his high level of physical energy, his love of work and his strong passion for learning about China and engaging with stakeholders. He is always very punctual for meetings," said Chen.

Lechleiter believes, despite various difficulties, China is the most promising market for Lilly.

China is now the world's third-largest pharmaceutical market and is expected to become the second-largest by 2016.

Chinese people spent $926 billion on medication last year. The compound annual growth rate of the market was more than 20 percent from 2005 to 2013 and forecast to be 12 percent by 2020, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Currently Lilly has 13 potential new medicines in third-phase testing and wants to launch the products at the beginning of next year. In total, it has nearly 70 compounds in various development stages.

Regarding foreign counterparts, such as Sanofi SA in the diabetes sector and Pfizer Inc in cancer treatment, Lilly has rich experience competing against them in the international market.

Lechleiter, as both company chief and industry leader, has much work to do and tasks to implement. However, he added: "In my life, perfect happiness is sitting on the terrace of our home with my wife."