News Release

INDIANAPOLIS, May 4, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced changes in the company's senior leadership team. Alex M. Azar II will be joining Lilly as senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications, reporting directly to chairman and chief executive officer Sidney Taurel. He will be a member of the company's policy and strategy committee, the corporate operations committee, and the senior management council.

Azar will lead the company's teams that are responsible for international, federal, and state government affairs, public policy planning and development, external and internal communications, corporate branding, and community and public relations. Azar will also lead the company's efforts in maximizing the value of health information technology and in fighting against the spread of counterfeit medicines.

Azar brings to Lilly a distinguished record of achievement in both the public and private sectors. Until February 3, 2007, he was the United States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he worked closely with Secretary Mike Leavitt and served for almost two years as the chief operating officer of the largest civilian department in the federal government. Azar supervised all operations of the HHS, including the regulation of food and drugs, Medicare, Medicaid, medical research, public health, welfare, child and family services, disease prevention, Indian health, mental health services, emergency preparedness and response, and many other activities. Agencies under his direction included, among others, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was a key member of President Bush's leadership team, contributing extensive policy, legal, and management expertise.

Prior to his tenure as Deputy Secretary, Azar served for four years as the General Counsel of the HHS. Before entering the government, he was a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding. Azar also clerked at the Supreme Court of the United States for Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Yale Law School, and will be moving to Indianapolis with his wife Jennifer and their two young children.

"We are very pleased to have someone of Alex's caliber join the leadership team here at Lilly," said Taurel. "He brings a combination of distinguished government service and private practice, and he has a track record of strong leadership. Alex has been a leading advocate for the role that pharmaceuticals play in preventing, treating and curing disease, and he will be a great addition to the company."

Said Azar, "After leaving public service back in February, I began to consider ways I could continue to play an active role in the healthcare arena. Lilly is providing me an excellent opportunity to do just that. I am excited about joining the company's leadership team, and I look forward to contributing to the company's efforts to bring innovative medicines to patients around the world. The pharmaceutical industry operates in a challenging environment, and I am anxious to begin addressing many of those challenges through this new role."

The company also announced that Anne Nobles will assume the role of vice president for compliance and enterprise risk management, and she will serve as Lilly's chief compliance officer. Nobles, a graduate of Harvard University and Georgetown University Law School, has been with Lilly for over 16 years and has held a variety of leadership roles in public affairs, regulatory affairs, public policy, business customer strategies, product team leadership, and corporate affairs. Nobles will report directly to Taurel and will be a member of both the corporate operations committee and the senior management council.

Said Taurel, "Anne's legal background and her broad experiences here at Lilly make her the ideal person to assume the role of the company's chief compliance officer. We are committed to conducting ourselves with integrity and to being in compliance with all laws and regulations, and having someone with Anne's qualifications in this important role is evidence of this commitment."

Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers -- through medicines and information -- for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at www.lilly.com.

C-LLY

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company

Phil Belt of Lilly, +1-317-276-2506

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