Thanks, but ...

First, it gives me pleasure to say I am honored to have been cited in such a prestigious magazine as "Top Pharmaceuticals CEO" ["Movin' on Up," February 2005]. Thanks for the opportunity and for considering me.

Nevertheless, I write to clear up some points of the reporting that do not correspond to the facts of the matter. Contrary to what was published, neither I nor Lilly has ever launched any kind of "campaign to fight off the rise of cheaper generic drugs ... in Brazil." Quite the opposite.

I want to make clear that, as a "defendant of patent rights," as the story indicates, speaking for myself and for the organization, generics are merely the other side of the coin of patented drugs, a natural course of action to which we are accustomed around the world and one that is perfectly predictable, in fact expected, in Brazil. So, I repeat, we never have opposed generic drugs.

I would like also to point out that Lilly Brazil does invest significantly in clinical research in the country, following the trend worldwide of the company of producing innovative products and spreading scientific knowledge. But that has little to do with "works with domestic scientific community to produce drugs in Brazil:' as also was reported.

Finally, let me say that the company, under my direction, mainly during 2005, is working to make Nova Lilly Brasil again among the 15 largest pharmaceutical companies in the country and, as a result, to join the list of the 10 largest affiliates of Lilly worldwide.

Philippe Prufer

President, Eli Lilly, Brazil and Southern Cone