Here's A Look At Eli Lilly's Future Pipeline

Eli Lilly and Co LLY Chairman, President and CEO John Lechleiter was on CNBC Friday to reveal the company's upcoming drug pipeline. Here is what he shared.

The Pipeline

"We went through a period where we lost the patents on our four biggest products," Lechleiter began. "And we all know what happens. The generics come in quickly – that's great for consumers, but we lose the revenues almost overnight.

"So, we had to rebuild our pipeline. Now, we are seeing launches starting last year; we are seeing positive data read outs and...our Alzheimer's drug, which is in phase III – late next year, we will get the data from that study."

Related Link: Has Eli Lilly Found A Cure For Alzheimer's?

He continued, "And then we have an oral, pill-type cardiovascular medicine that's in development. And about this time next year, we ought to know the outcome of that study. That would be a new type of product in the cardiovascular medicine that we hope would provide additional benefit on top of a statin, which many people take today in the form of a generic."

Works In A Different Way Than Statins

Lechleiter was asked to elaborate on how this new cardiovascular drug works. He replied, "Well, this new drug works in a different way than the statins. It lowers bad cholesterol, what we call LDL. It also tends to raise HDL, so-called good cholesterol. And the mechanism involved is one that we hope will result in good, long-term outcomes for patients; so that means fewer heart attacks, fewer hospitalizations, etc."