Johna Norton to retire as Eli Lilly Executive Vice President of Global Quality

She will continue to serve at full capacity in her role and as a member of Lilly's Executive Committee until her retirement date. An internal and external search is actively underway for her successor.

"Johna's career has been built on her commitment to ensuring that our medicines are produced with the highest quality standards. By ensuring our company, manufacturing sites, production lines, team members and collaborators share this commitment, she has had a profound and positive impact on patients and our company," said David A. Ricks, Lilly's Chair and CEO. "During her tenure as leader of Global Quality, Johna has overseen significant expansion, modernization of systems and improvements in our processes and team. On behalf of our Board, leadership team, and the thousands of employees who have worked with Johna, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to her for her many years of outstanding service to Lilly."

Norton has been with Lilly since 1990, starting as an analytical chemist and moving on to hold various leadership positions in quality assurance and quality control. She has supported research and development and commercial manufacturing at numerous Lilly facilities and with external manufacturing partners around the world. Norton played a key role in the successful transition of new molecules from development to manufacturing and the implementation of continuous manufacturing processes. As a quality leader at Lilly's Indianapolis and Ireland manufacturing facilities, she led work on the production of Lilly's first monoclonal antibodies for clinical trials and the build and qualification of the first monoclonal facility in Ireland. In 2017, Norton was named one of the Top Women in Life Sciences by FiercePharma.