Project HOPE Presents Dr. Lechleiter, Lilly with Global Health Partner Award

INDIANAPOLIS, June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Project HOPE presented John C. Lechleiter, Ph.D., chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) with the inaugural Global Health Partner Award. The award recognizes Dr. Lechleiter's leadership and the longstanding partnership between Lilly and Project HOPE, which continues to help change the lives of people in need through health programs, health education, and humanitarian assistance.

Dr. Lechleiter accepted the inaugural award at the Project HOPE Global Health Awards ceremony today in Washington, D.C.

"Project HOPE has been one of Lilly's leading partners in our efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and tackle some of the world's most complex health challenges," Lechleiter said. "We're humbled by this recognition and inspired to continue our partnership with Project HOPE. By working together, we will have even greater impact on communities and people in need."

Lilly's partnership with Project HOPE began in 1959, one year after the humanitarian health organization was founded. Since then, the company has contributed about $80 million in cash and in-kind gifts, including product donations. These collaborations have included diabetes education and training programs, as well as disaster relief efforts and medical donations in countries such as China, Haiti, India, Indonesia, and Japan.

Earlier this year, through its partnership with Project HOPE, Lilly donated more than 25,000 vials of insulin to the people of Tajikistan when supplies of the medicine were depleted there. Lilly also is working with Project HOPE in India and South Africa as part of The Lilly NCD Partnership, which the company announced in 2011 to fight the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in underserved communities. Through this initiative, Lilly will support the work at the HOPE Center in Johannesburg, South Africa, where Project HOPE trains health workers in diabetes care and new screening and monitoring methods.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers – through medicines and information – for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at www.lilly.com. CR-LLY

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO )

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company