Eli Lilly CEO says corporate can assist ‘reply’ to nationwide safety considerations round crucial medicine as price lists loom

Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks on Thursday stated the drugmaker can assist “respond” to nationwide safety considerations round less expensive crucial drugs as pharmaceutical-specific price lists loom. 

The Trump management has opened a Section 232 investigation into how uploading positive medicine into the U.S. impacts nationwide safety – a transfer broadly noticed as a prelude to beginning price lists on prescription drugs. It is unclear what the ones levies will appear to be and whether or not they’ll goal branded or older generic medicine, the latter of which might be in large part made in a foreign country in international locations like India and China. 

“Bringing that capacity back, so in case of emergency, we have the stock, we have the supply – that’s a valid thing,” Ricks stated in an interview with CNBC, referring to these older medicine. He spoke after Eli Lilly reported first-quarter income and 2025 steerage, which failed to come with estimated results of the possible pharmaceutical price lists.

He stated nationwide safety considerations round the ones medicines are “valid.”

But he added: “Do I think tariffs are the answer to that? I’m not so sure personally.”

“We would be happy to talk to this administration or national security people about how we could respond to such a crisis,” he stated. “We have capacities to bring to bear there, and we’re happy to help the country if we’re in need.”

Older generic medicine account for roughly 90% of the drugs prescribed within the U.S. Many are vital for health center care, together with antibiotics and vasopressors, or medicines that carry blood drive. 

Ricks famous that the ones crucial medicine are “not easy to make, but they’re cheap, and they’ve been driven out of our country due to cost and other damaging policies.”

However, some well being mavens in the past instructed CNBC that price lists on generic medicine, that have a long way decrease benefit margins than branded medicines, may just power some generic drugmakers to go away the U.S. marketplace altogether. That may just result in or exacerbate shortages of positive generic medicine within the U.S., comparable to sterile injectable medicine regularly utilized in hospitals.

Rick’s feedback come as drugmakers brace for President Donald Trump‘s deliberate pharmaceutical price lists, which intention to spice up home production. Those tariff threats are already fueling a brand new wave of U.S. production investments from the pharmaceutical business.

That contains Eli Lilly, which in February introduced it is going to make investments a minimum of $27 billion to construct 4 new manufacturing websites within the U.S.

On Thursday, Ricks stated price lists will not be wanted after the business’s strikes to reshore production. 

“I think that actually the threat of tariffs is already bringing back critical supply chains into important industries, chips and pharma,” Ricks stated. “So do we need to enact [tariffs?] I’m not so sure.”

He added that Eli Lilly desires to peer everlasting decrease tax charges within the U.S., specifically 15% for home manufacturing. Ricks stated decrease taxes drove many drugmakers to fabricate in “low-tax islands like Ireland, Singapore and in Switzerland, and that can come back if there’s an economic incentive.”

That echoes the sentiment of Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla’s feedback on Tuesday. Though Bourla argued that uncertainty round price lists is deterring the corporate from making U.S. investments in production and analysis and construction.