Jubilant Organosys (Indian Stock Exchange: JOL) and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced that the companies have entered into an agreement to form an equally-owned joint venture in India that will focus on providing drug development services exclusively to Jubilant- and Lilly-partnered molecules. The joint venture is to be modeled after Lilly’s early-stage development division, Chorus, which provides fast and capable drug development for Lilly exclusively through the utilization of external contract companies.

The joint venture, to be based out of Bangalore, is expected to begin operations in the fall of 2008. The joint venture will be managed by an independent team of drug development experts and will focus on preclinical molecules and their development through Phase II clinical testing, before returning successful assets to the sponsors for further development.

Shyam S. Bhartia, Chairman, and Hari S. Bhartia, Co-Chairman of Jubilant Organosys, the largest collaborative drug discovery and development company in India, said “We are very pleased to expand our collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company from discovery to clinical development, leveraging India’s emerging clinical capabilities. As in our discovery collaboration, we believe this unique partnership will be a pioneering effort in leveraging the expertise of a global pharmaceutical company like Lilly with the emerging development capabilities of Jubilant, in accelerating drug development to provide patients with affordable health care in areas of unmet medical needs.”

Robert Armstrong, PhD, vice president of global external research and development at Lilly added, “This is a great addition to Lilly’s quest to create a networked R&D organization that will bring to bear resources and capability from around the world to help address important medical needs for patients globally. This collaboration with Jubilant will continue to strengthen our capabilities in Asia.”

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About Jubilant Organosys

Jubilant Organosys Ltd. is an integrated pharmaceutical industry player, the largest custom research and manufacturing services (CRAMS) and drug discovery and development services companies out of India. The company has a presence across the pharmaceutical value chain for products and services to include exclusive synthesis arrangements, active pharmaceutical ingredients, contract manufacturing of sterile injectables (liquids and lyophilized) products, non-steriles (ointments, creams and liquid) radiopharmaceuticals, Integrated drug discovery solutions, medicinal chemistry services, clinical research services, dosage forms and Health Care.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly, 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. C-LLY