US-based drug maker Eli Lilly has appointed Arnoldas Doviltis to head the company’s operations in Romania, thus replacing Radu Rasinaru who resigned in June.

Arnoldas Doviltis has been with the US company since 1994, he headed Eli Lilly’s operations in European Union (since 2005), in the Baltic countries (2000-2005), and in Lithuania (1996-2000). Dovilitis graduated an MBA program at University of Columbia, New York in 1992 and an MD at Kaunas Medical Academy, Lithuania in 1989 according to official data. The new country manager speaks fluently English, Polish and Russian.

Radu Rasinaru was one of the first employees of Eli Lilly’s subsidiary in Romania, being promoted as country manager in September 2007. After less than two years, Rasinaru stepped down as country manager, only to take over the leadership of Astra-Zeneca Romania.

According to the findings of the latest study conducted by research company Cegedim on the ranking of the best performing pharmaceutical companies in first quarter, Astra-Zeneca took up the ninth spot, with sales of around 60.4 million lei and a market share of 2.8%. As the study found, Eli Lilly recorded sales of 40.3 million lei and in first quarter and a market share of 2%. The pharmaceutical industry is evaluated at around 2.1 billion euros this year.