Lose patents, lose jobs

On the announcement that Lilly will cut about 5,500 jobs, or 14 percent of its workforce:

Chris Schott, an analyst with JP Morgan Chase & Co.: “Lilly’s move is consistent with announcements by its major pharma peers and was to some degree inevitable given the company’s 2011-2014 patent cycle.”

OR as Lilly CEO John Lechleite put it:

“The major emphasis is to prepare us to enter what’s going to be a challenging period for the company, as we see patent expirations, and to speed up new products as we enter that period."