Dave Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly, on GLP-1s and the business of pharma

Dave Ricks, the CEO of Eli Lilly, the world's most valuable pharmaceutical company, sits down with John and Patrick to discuss the complex business of drug development. Dave explains the true origin story of GLP-1s (from Gila monster saliva), why their potential goes far beyond weight loss to addiction and inflammation, and how "self-pay" has become the #1 way new patients get Zepbound. They cover the "shadow generic" industry undermining patents, the challenges associated with clinical trial enrollment, and what drove insulin list prices to $275 (while the net price was $40). This is a rare, candid look into the strategies, science, and future of pharma from one of the industry's most influential leaders. Full transcript on Substack: https://cheekypint.substack.com/p/dav... Subscribe to Cheeky Pint Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2IHbGJJ... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Substack: https://cheekypint.substack.com/ Key moments 00:00 Introducing Dave Ricks 05:07 Making R&D decisions 10:10 Clinical trials 24:59 Drug pricing 32:43 Stimulating more R&D 54:15 Pros and cons of US healthcare 58:20 New pharma business models 01:05:53 Stripe and enterprises 01:07:00 China 01:16:31 Generics 01:22:37 GLP-1s 1:37:43 r/Peptides 01:41:25 LillyDirect 01:46:35 Why do investors love LLY?