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Ricks: Pharma must invest 20-25% of revenue in R&D for double-digit growth

Dave Ricks · Dave Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly, on GLP-1s and the business of pharma · Nov 11, 2025 · at 1:55:03

Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks explains Lilly's capital allocation philosophy and R&D reinvestment benchmarks to Patrick Collison.

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“I have a belief that if you're not generating, to generate double digit growth in the sector, you need to invest at 20 to 25% of sales in R&D. That's sort of a good, a positive return R&D stack.”

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