Lilly Apoints SVP, CFO

Eli Lilly and Co. has appointed Anat Ashkenazi as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Ms. Ashkenazi replaces Josh Smiley, who has resigned and will be leaving the company. She most recently served in the role of senior vice president, controller and chief financial officer of Lilly Research Laboratories.

Ms. Ashkenazi has been with the company for nearly 20 years and has been senior vice president, controller and chief financial officer of Lilly Research Laboratories since 2016.  In this role, she oversaw the CFOs of the company's commercial businesses, as well as those for research and development, manufacturing and quality, and G&A functions. She also led the corporate strategic planning team and business transformation office. 

"We are confident in Anat's ability to serve as our next CFO given her impeccable track record of leadership and business success across nearly all major parts of the company, most recently as corporate controller and head of strategy. Having finished 2020 with strong momentum and strong financial performance, we are well positioned to continue delivering on the promise of our pipeline and the potential to grow Lilly and its impact on patients' lives in the decade to come. We appreciate Josh's many contributions to Lilly and wish him well, said David A. Ricks, Lilly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

"We have a high degree of confidence in both our short- and long-term outlook at Lilly given our strong revenue growth, pipeline potential, and margin expansion opportunities," said Ms. Ashkenazi. "I look forward to building on this excellent foundation, working closely with Dave and the rest of our talented Lilly team to drive our strategy forward and helping create shareholder value in the years ahead."