Eli Lilly names new CFO, replaces head of research and development in management shakeup

NEW YORK: Eli Lilly and Co named a new chief financial officer and replaced the head of its research and development arm, among other changes to its top management on Friday, weeks after the drugmaker announced layoffs to cut costs.

Company Treasurer Josh Smiley will become CFO on Jan. 1 to replace Derica Rice who announced his retirement in June.

Dan Skovronsky, a senior vice-president, will become president of R&D arm Lilly Research Labs on June 1, 2018, taking the place of Jan Lundberg, who will retire.

The company also said Myles O'Neill will head up Lilly's manufacturing operations beginning next year, replacing Maria Crowe, who is also retiring.

Lilly said this month it would cut 3,500 jobs worldwide -- about 8 percent of its workforce -- in order to save around $500 million a year.

Most of those cuts are expected to come from a voluntary early-retirement program. It is also closing a plant and two R&D facilities.

Lilly said its senior executives were not eligible for the early retirement program.

Lilly has suffered setbacks over the past year on two potential blockbuster drugs -- the delay of a rheumatoid arthritis drug as well as the failure of an experimental Alzheimer's treatment.

Still, the company is looking to launch two new medicines by year-end, including a breast cancer treatment that was approved by U.S. regulators on Thursday.

That drug, which will be sold under the brand name Verzenio, will carry a list price before any discounts or rebates of about $10,948 per month, Lilly said.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; editing by Susan Thomas)