How Eli Lilly’s CEO Plans to Defeat Pharma’s Boom-Bust Cycle

Jun 23rd, 2026

How Eli Lilly’s CEO Plans to Defeat Pharma’s Boom-Bust Cycle

When Dave Ricks became chief executive officer of Eli Lilly & Co. in 2017, he was facing an industry under siege.

Americans held drug companies in lower esteem than airlines, law firms and even the federal government. President Donald Trump, then starting his first term, was excoriating them for their high prices. A mounting number of reports showed that soaring costs were even forcing some diabetics to ration insulin. Ricks, the 11th CEO in Lilly’s 150-year history, concedes that one was a public-relations nightmare.

Almost a decade later, the mood at Lilly has shifted dramatically. The company’s hit diabetes shot, Mounjaro, and obesity shot, Zepbound, have transformed its fortunes and, in many ways, its public image. We speak with Madison Muller, Bloomberg News Healthcare Reporter, for a closer look.