Lilly shifts three executives as it refocuses on U.S. and global launches

Eli Lilly and Company announced on May 8, 2025 that it is moving three executives into new roles, including a new president for the business unit that sells its diabetes and obesity medicines ^[1][3]. The company said the changes are meant to increase its focus on the U.S. business and on global therapeutic areas ^[1][3].

Who is moving where

Ilya Yuffa will become executive vice president and president of Lilly USA and Global Customer Capabilities. He previously ran Lilly International. In the new role, the company said, he will lead the U.S. business, including sales, marketing and commercial capabilities for all marketed products, and will be responsible for commercializing upcoming product launches in the U.S. ^[1][3]

Patrik Jonsson, who led Lilly Cardiometabolic Health and Lilly USA, becomes executive vice president and president of Lilly International and will lead all markets outside the U.S. ^[1][3]. Lilly said Jonsson's record of growth in the cardiometabolic and U.S. businesses, plus his experience with global launches, will help it grow internationally ^[1].

Kenneth Custer, Ph.D., general manager of Lilly Canada, is promoted to executive vice president and president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health and will join Lilly's executive committee ^[1][3]. Lilly described him as a 16-year veteran who began in sales and marketing and later moved to Lilly Research Laboratories, where he led early development of key immunology and diabetes programs, including tirzepatide ^[1][3]. He also served as senior vice president of portfolio strategy and head of business development ^[1][3].

"Thanks to Patrik's leadership, Lilly's cardiometabolic health and U.S. businesses have achieved tremendous growth over the past few years," CEO David A. Ricks said in the announcement. "With these changes, we will create the additional focus we need to reach the next level." ^[1][2][3]

The release did not say when the new roles take effect ^[1][3].

The business behind the changes

The announcement came a week after Lilly reported first-quarter 2025 financial results. According to a report on those results, revenue rose 45% from a year earlier, earnings per share rose 23%, and the company reaffirmed revenue guidance of $58 billion to $60 billion ^[2]. Ricks credited strong sales of Mounjaro and Zepbound ^[2].

Ricks also pointed to orforglipron, an oral GLP-1 the company is studying in diabetes and obesity ^[2]. Lilly reported in April 2025 that orforglipron met its main goals in a Phase 3 trial, with a safety profile consistent with injectable GLP-1 medicines already on the market, and that patients taking the pill lost an average of 16 pounds ^[2]. Ricks called it "the first of seven Phase 3 studies" and said additional data readouts were expected later in the year. He added that the once-daily pill, "if approved, could be readily manufactured and launched at scale" ^[2].

Lilly has also said it is accelerating manufacturing investments, as underscored by a recent announcement to build four new facilities ^[2].

Why it matters for patients

The unit Custer will now lead is the one Lilly credits with much of its recent growth, and the first-quarter revenue jump was driven by Mounjaro and Zepbound ^[1][2]. Leadership changes of this kind do not by themselves alter what a medicine does or who can get it, and no changes to pricing, insurance coverage, patient assistance programs or supply were announced ^[1][2][3]. What the reshuffle does signal is where Lilly plans to put commercial attention: the U.S. business chief is explicitly responsible for launching upcoming products in the U.S., and the new cardiometabolic president will sit on Lilly's executive committee ^[1][3]. Lilly has not named which upcoming launches those are ^[1][3].

For people who would rather take a pill than an injection, orforglipron is not yet an option. Its Phase 3 results have been reported, but the FDA has not approved it, and no decision date has been disclosed ^[2].

What happens next

Lilly has not disclosed effective dates for the three leadership moves ^[1][3]. On orforglipron, Ricks said additional Phase 3 readouts are expected later in 2025; the April 2025 results were the first of seven planned late-stage studies ^[2]. The company has not said when it expects to file for approval, or how it would price an oral obesity or diabetes drug ^[2].