Eli Lilly and Company (Eli Lilly), a diabetes care devices company, has promoted Alex M. Azar II, currently senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications, to the the role in Eli Lilly's US Business-to-Business organization. In addition, Jack Bailey, US senior vice president of account-based markets, will broaden his leadership responsibilities to include oversight of the US. diabetes business unit. Azar and Bailey will assume their new responsibilities effective April 1, 2009.
In this new role, Azar will oversee the company’s public payer, managed care and wholesaler operations in the US as well as oversee Lilly’s sales and marketing operations in Puerto Rico.
Bailey’s move combines several key aspects of the business and creates therapeutic alignment across Eli Lilly ‘s organization, from drug discovery to new product development to commercialization.
“Lilly has been focusing for some time on advancing our understanding of and addressing, in more meaningful ways, the needs of our public and private payer customers. Given the current and unprecedented political forces on the U.S. healthcare system, this move will enable us to bring a more exclusive focus on these vital customers,” said John C. Lechleiter, chairman, president and chief executive officer.
“Alex’s strong political and healthcare background and expertise will enable us to further build the strength of the organization at a critical time for both Lilly and the industry. Additionally, this move creates a tremendous opportunity for one of our most qualified and strongest leaders to build front-line business experience at the company’s largest affiliate.”
“It was Jack’s vision and leadership over the last eight years that drove the successful modernization of Lilly’s Business-to-Business operations in the United States,” said Lechleiter. “I am pleased that he will now have the opportunity to apply his knowledge and strong track record of performance more broadly across Lilly USA’s therapeutic portfolio.”
Azar comes to Eli Lilly in 2007 and, during his tenure leading Lilly’s corporate affairs function, helped position Lilly as a leading advocate of public policies that support biopharmaceuticals and advocated for healthcare reform that would improve efficiency, choice, and access for patients.
Pruior to join the company, Azar served as the US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) from 2005 to 2007, 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. In this role, he oversaw 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. Prior to his tenure as Deputy Secretary, Azar served for four years as the General Counsel of the HHS. Before entering government service, 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. Azar is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Yale Law School.
Eli Lilly expects to announce soon a new leader for the company’s global corporate affairs and communications organization. “Alex advanced our corporate affairs objectives and achievements significantly during his tenure in the role,” said Lechleiter, “and filling this important leadership position with a worthy successor remains a top priority for Lilly.”
Bailey comes to Eli Lilly in 1991. During his 18-year tenure at the company, he has held positions in sales and marketing and business development. In 1998, he assumed the role of general manager for Lilly’s affiliate in South Africa and also directed regional sales operations across Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2001, he returned to the U.S. to lead Lilly’s Business-to-Business organization. Bailey holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and genetics from Hobart College and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina.