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An Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical manufacturing plant is pictured in Branchburg, New Jersey, on March 5, 2021.
Mike Segar | Reuters
U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly on Monday said it has appointed insider Lucas Montarce as its new chief financial officer, effective immediately, months after former CFO Anat Ashkenazi stepped down to join Google parent Alphabet.
The executive appointment comes at a crucial time for Eli Lilly as it invests billions to increase manufacturing capacity and meet unprecedented demand for its diabetes and weight loss drugs - Mounjaro and Zepbound.
Lilly and Danish rival Novo Nordisk are leaders in the burgeoning market for new weight loss drugs, which some analysts project could exceed $150 billion by the early 2030s.
Montarce, who joined Lilly in 2001, has held various finance leadership roles, including the company's head of finance for Lilly Research Laboratories and Lilly International.
Most recently, he served as the president and general manager for Lilly's Spain, Portugal, and Greece hub, a position he assumed earlier this year.
In addition to his CFO role, Montarce will serve as the drugmaker's executive vice president and, receive a base salary of $1 million, and be eligible for an annual target bonus of $1 million.
Shares of the company rose 1.2% to $913.38 in premarket trading.