CICP News & Updates

Please take a moment to read this excellent editorial by Eli Lilly & Company Chairman (and CICP Board member) John Lechleiter on Lilly’s drive for innovation, keeping new medicines in the pipeline.

Central Indiana is fortunate to be home to global corporations like Eli Lilly that are so focused on innovation, and willing to invest in it.  Looking at the issue macro-economically, the most innovative regions are also the most prosperous.  Study after study shows that the places with the most patent activity, R&D investment and educated, creative workers also have the highest per capita incomes and strongest economic growth.

Unfortunately, the innovation advantage that the U.S. has traditionally enjoyed over the rest of the world seems to have eroded in recent years.  New ideas simply aren’t coming to market the way they used to – initial public offerings (IPOs) were down 70% from 2007 to 2008, and even though they bounced back to some degree in 2009, last year was also the worst year in more than a decade for venture capital investment.

Smaller entrepreneurial firms are often (and rightfully) seen as the major engine of innovation in today’s economy.  But large corporations like Eli Lilly can also recognize the innovation imperative, and lead the way – to the overall benefit of our regional economy.