WASHINGTON D.C. -- Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks met with President Donald Trump Tuesday.
In the meeting, Trump stressed reducing the cost of prescription drugs, while promising to reduce regulation on the companies.
“Right now, it’s very unfair what other countries are doing to us," Trump said. And one thing really I want you to do: I’ve seen this over the years, but a lot of the companies have moved out, they don’t make the drugs in our country any more. A lot of that has to do with regulation, a lot of it has to do with the fact that other countries take advantage of us with their money and their money supply and devaluation. Because our country has been run so badly, we know nothing about devaluation. You look at Japan. They play the money market, they play the devaluation market, while we sit here like a bunch of dummies.”
Executives from the following companies were also at the meeting:
- Celgene
- Amgen
- Johnson & Johnson
- Merck
After Trump's remarks, he asked that everybody sitting at the table introduce themselves and their company.
"140 years we've been in Indiana and Indianapolis," Ricks said. "That's where we make a lot of our products, too. In fact, we're hiring manufacturing jobs as I speak, which is good news for people in Indiana. Some of the policies you've suggested can help us do more. I'm looking forward to meetings ahead. Tax, deregulations -- those are things that could really help us expand operations."
Ricks has been Eli Lilly's CEO since Jan. 1, 2017. John C. Lechleiter retired from the company at the end of 2016.
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