ELI LILLY AND COMPANY JOINS SAFE-BIOPHARMA ASSOCIATION

Ft. Lee, N.J. (December 10, 2008) – Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), a leading innovation-driven corporation, has become a member of SAFE-BioPharma Association, the non-profit association that created and manages the global SAFE-BioPharma™ digital identity and signature standard for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.

Lilly joins numerous other major biopharmaceutical companies that are using the SAFE-BioPharma standard to manage identities of employees and external collaborators. As a member, Lilly employees and others associated with the organization will be able to utilize SAFE-BioPharma digital signatures to sign a broad variety of documents.

Lilly also will have access to the SAFE-BioPharma Certification Bridge Authority, a system that leverages the efficiencies and cost-savings of the Internet by allowing its users to trust identities in online transactions. Because SAFE-BioPharma is linked to the Federal Bridge, Internet transmissions between SAFE-BioPharma members and federal agencies are trusted and accepted. This capability saves money and greatly reduces identity theft.

“Following extensive examination of the benefits of SAFE-BioPharma membership, member companies decide to join so they can enjoy the substantial cost-savings and efficiencies that the SAFE-BioPharma standard delivers to the biopharmaceutical industry. We look forward to helping Lilly get the greatest benefit from its membership,” said Mollie Shields-Uehling, president and CEO, SAFE-BioPharma Association.

The SAFE-BioPharma standard was established by the biopharmaceutical industry to help it transform to a fully electronic environment from inefficient paper-based business and regulatory processes. SAFE-BioPharma provides a high level of trust assurance for digital identities, which are uniquely bound to corresponding digital signatures. 

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About Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly (NYSE: LLY), a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of first-in-class and best-in-class 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.

About SAFE-BioPharma Association
SAFE-BioPharma Association is the non-profit association that created and manages the SAFE-BioPharma™ digital identity and signature standard for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. The SAFE-BioPharma industry standard is used to mitigate legal, regulatory and other business risk associated with business-to-business and business-to-regulator electronic transactions. It facilitates interoperability by providing a secure, enforceable, and regulatory-compliant way to verify identities of parties involved in electronic transactions. SAFE-BioPharma’s vision is to be a catalyst in transforming the biopharmaceutical and healthcare communities to a fully electronic business environment by 2012. The Association’s members include Abbott (NYSE: ABT), Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Merck (NYSE:MRK), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), Roche and Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY). For more information, visit www.safe-biopharma.org.

SAFE-BioPharma™ is a trademark of SAFE-BioPharma Association. Any use of this trademark requires approval from
SAFE-BioPharma Association.