Lilly and Argonne National Laboratory Announce $2 Million Upgrade to Lilly’s Beamline Capabilities

INDIANAPOLIS, July 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY)
and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory announced today
the completion of Lilly’s $2 million upgrade to the company’s research-guided
beamline, located at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne’s campus
outside of Chicago. The APS is a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science
User Facility operated by Argonne.

The Lilly Research Laboratories Collaborative Access Team (LRL-CAT) beamline is
a sophisticated x-ray analytical facility that produces detailed, atom-by-atom
pictures of protein crystals. Its operations rely on the high-quality x-rays
generated by the APS, one of the most powerful sources of x-rays for research
purposes worldwide.

The data produced by the beamline and interpreted by LRL scientists provide
valuable information on the interactions between potential new medicines and
human disease protein targets. Lilly chemists, structural biologists, and the
staff at the LRL-CAT beamline facility work together to create molecules,
prepare crystals and analyze how the molecules bind to the proteins. The process
is iterative, initially using beamline data to design new potential medicines
with enhanced properties, which are in turn introduced into protein crystals and
then re-analyzed.

The LRL-CAT upgrade included an automation component that allows unattended
operation of the beamline for extended periods. Previously, LRL-CAT employees
worked in shifts on nights and weekends to maintain throughput. They can now
monitor and, if necessary, operate the facility from remote locations using the
Internet. The result is that Lilly scientists are able to get the data they
need, as quickly as possible, in order to make informed decisions on the
development of future Lilly medicines. The cost of the upgrade was funded by
Lilly and supports LRL’s objective of producing more “timely shots in goal,” in
other words, getting medicines approved and available as quickly as possible to
the patients who are waiting.

A simple way to think about the work Lilly scientists are conducting at its
beamline facility is to view the disease protein they are studying as the “lock”
and the molecule as the “key.” The beamline helps researchers determine if the
molecule (the key) can unlock the protein disease target (the lock) and
therefore change its behavior.

To do this, Lilly chemists typically develop large numbers of molecules (keys)
and add the molecules to the protein disease target (locks), developed by Lilly
structural biologists, to create protein crystals. Once this process is
complete, the crystals are sent to the LRL-CAT beamline facility via overnight
delivery for analysis. The LRL-CAT beamline utilizes x-rays to determine if and
how the molecule was able to “unlock” the protein, usually within minutes of
acquisition. Based on the results from the data, Lilly scientists are able to
quickly create better “keys.” The facility currently examines more than 10,000
protein crystals per year and supports nearly half of Lilly’s research
portfolio.

“Utilizing the team and beamline at Argonne to develop potential medicines to
treat diseases like Alzheimer’s is a great example of technology and the human
mind coming together. Lilly scientists utilized beamline data to help design our
beta-secretase inhibitor which is currently in Phase I clinical testing to
determine its potential as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. In this specific
instance they have come together literally to learn to save the human mind,”
said Jan Lundberg, Ph.D., executive vice president, science and technology, and
president, Lilly Research Laboratories.

“The APS has long been a hotspot of pharmaceutical research and has become an
increasingly important tool for Lilly and other pharmaceutical companies in the
research and development of new medicines,” said Argonne Director Eric Isaacs.
“The collaboration between Lilly and Argonne serves as an example of how
researchers from different sectors can work together on the most pressing
problems facing the public.”

About Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in
science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts
leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific
discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of
companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them
solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership and
prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60
nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of
Energy’sOffice of Science.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing
portfolio of pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its
own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific
organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers -
through medicines and information – for some of the world’s most urgent medical
needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at www.lilly.com.

C-LLY

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO )

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110714/DE35167LOGO )

SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company