Lilly Announces Resignation of Enrique Conterno, Global Head of Diabetes Business

Compiled by Fan Dongdong

On October 23, Eli Lilly announced that Enrique Conterno, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Diabetes Business, will resign at the end of the year. His successor has been confirmed as Mike Mason, Head of Insulin Manufacturing at Eli Lilly, who will officially assume the role on January 1, 2020.

Enrique Conterno (Source: Eli Lilly and Company)

Conterno is Peruvian. Since joining Eli Lilly in 1992, he has held various roles in sales, finance, marketing, and general management, and served as the head of the company’s diabetes business from 2009 onward. Mason currently serves as Senior Vice President of Connected Care and Insulins. He also leads Eli Lilly’s efforts to improve insulin affordability, including the establishment of the Eli Lilly Diabetes Solution Center, which assists patients seeking more affordable insulin alternatives. Following Conterno’s departure, Mason will continue to oversee both areas of responsibility.

Eli Lilly and Company CEO David Ricks thanked Conterno for his efforts and contributions over the past 27 years during a conference call on Wednesday (October 23). Regarding his successor, Mason, David Ricks stated, “Mason has worked at Eli Lilly for nearly 30 years, possessing specialized expertise and extensive experience in the diabetes business. He led Eli Lilly’s U.S. commercial teams for diabetes and neuroscience, and drove the successful U.S. launches of Jardiance and Trulicity. Moreover, Mason and Conterno have worked closely together over the past six years.”

Foreign media outlet FiercePharma pointed out that Conterno’s departure may be attributed to the years of turbulence and unstable growth in Eli Lilly’s diabetes business under his leadership. In particular, pressure from drug pricing in recent years and competition from new products have challenged the sales volume of Eli Lilly’s product portfolio. To address these challenges, Eli Lilly has actively engaged in research and development and launched several new products.

In 2014, Eli Lilly launched Trulicity, a type 2 diabetes medication that has since grown to become the company’s top-selling drug. In addition to Trulicity’s market success, Jardiance, an SGLT2 inhibitor developed in collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, not only achieved impressive sales but also became the first diabetes drug to receive regulatory approval for improving cardiovascular outcomes. Mason spearheaded the launches of both of these novel diabetes therapies, which may well be one of the key reasons he emerged as the successor.

Like its peers, Eli Lilly also faces pricing pressure from payers on diabetes medications, a situation that has directly impacted the sales revenue of major pharmaceutical companies, forcing them to continuously adapt and cut costs. For example, compared to the same period last year, the revenue from Humalog, Eli Lilly’s best-selling insulin product, decreased by 8% in the first nine months of 2019.

References:

1、Lilly USA, diabetes chief Enrique Conterno bows out after 27 years

2、Enrique Conterno, Senior Vice President and President of Lilly Diabetes and Lilly USA, to Retire at End of Year; Mike Mason to Succeed Conterno