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Lilly ICOS

Company: Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN
Company Division/Group: Lilly ICOS
Company Description: Lilly ICOS is a 50/50 joint venture between Eli Lilly and Company and the ICOS Corporation founded to develop and market Cialis, a PDE 5 inhibitor used for the treated of erectile dysfunction.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Product Developer

Nomination Title: Pathik Patel, Marketing Associate Cialis

   1. Tell the story about what this nominee achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Pathik joined the Lilly ICOS team in 2003 at the launch of the brand in its first indication the treatement of erectile dysfunction (ED). As owner of the long term strategy for the brand, Pathik was tasked with pulling together a plan that would ensure development of the brand long into the next decade. On joining the team there was no plan for the brand's lifecycle. Thus Pathik set about pulling together a defined process to screen all opportunities for this class of drugs, alongside building relationships with all of the functions that needed to be involved to make the complex decisions on costly clinical development plans. This process resulted in the design of a once a day version of Cialis for the treatment of three different disease states.

The first new indication is slated to be for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This is a life threatening condition which afflicts young adults and children. The prognosis for this disease is not good and current therapies have challenging side-effects, are difficult to use and are costly. Cialis used in this way should be a relatively inexpensive once a day oral treatment for the condition.

The second new indication is Benign Postatic Hyperplasia (BPH) a condition that is suffered by millions of men over the age of 50. Its symptoms include painful, repeated urination at night and an inability to initiate urination. This can be extremely bothersome to men with the condition. This is often suffered also by the same men who suffer from ED.

The third indication in development is for the treatement of essential hypertension. This class of drugs were initially investigated for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The brand is in phase 2 development for the treatment for this condition which afflicts some 70 million people in the US alone.

Thanks to Pathik the Cialis brand has a long and successful future ahead of it. As has been communicated in the past, the brand has had a very successful launch. Some 3 years in, it already has market leadership over Viagra in 8 markets including major markets such as France and Brazil. However, if these three indications are successful the brand should grow long into the future and should provide solution to patients suffering from these difficult condtions for many years to come. Finally, Pathik has been recognized for this ground breaking work and his development process has been emulated by many other brands within the business. 

   2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

Q4 2005 details development plans around Hypertension, BPH and PAH indications
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/060207/20060207006020.html?.v=1

   3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the nominee:

Pathik has a very strong academic background with degrees from Harvard, London School of Economics and INSEAD. After a strong grounding in consulting to companies such as Merck, Pathik joined LillyICOS in 2003 to launch Cialis.