Lilly Makes Leadership Changes

Lilly completed the CoLucid acquisition in March.

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) has announced Joshua Smiley as the company’s next senior vice president of finance and treasurer. Smiley succeeds Thomas Grein, who is retiring in September after 41 years with the company.

Smiley currently serves as senior vice president of finance and controller and chief financial officer of Lilly Research Laboratories. Derica Rice, CFO of Lilly, says Smiley is "extremely well prepared" for his new role.

"Josh’s knowledge and skill helped to place Lilly in a position of strength," said Rice. "Josh is a strong analytical and strategic thinker who excels at distilling complex business matters into clear thoughts and actions."

Smiley’s current position will be filled by Anat Ashkenazi, who currently serves as vice president of finance and chief financial officer of Lilly Manufacturing, Global Quality and Lilly Diabetes. Her successor in that role has not yet been named.

Speaking on Grein’s retirement, Rice said Grein has been a "steadfast pillar of leadership in our financial organization." Rice said Grein helped navigate the company through periods of financial prosperity and uncertainty, most recently through the company’s period of patent expirations.

Last month, Lilly announced Dave Ricks will succeed the retiring John Lechleiter as the company’s chief executive officer on January 1. In an interview on Inside INdiana Business Television, Ricks shared his vision for the company.