Richard DiMarchi, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and the Gill Chair in Biomolecular Sciences, Indiana University and
Former Group Vice President, Eli Lilly and Company and Novo Nordisk

Richard DiMarchi, Ph.D., is a globally renowned scientist and former Group Vice President at Eli Lilly and Company and later at Novo Nordisk, who is recognized for his pioneering work that laid the foundation for the development of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists, the highly successful class of drugs that has transformed the treatment of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. In 2024, he was co-recipient, along with Lotte Bjerre Knudsen, Chief Scientific Advisor, Research and Early Development, Novo Nordisk, of the prestigious Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his contribution to the development of GLP-1 agonists. He is a former decade-long Chairman of the Peptide Therapeutics Foundation and is widely recognized as an international authority on macromolecular medicines.   

Dr. DiMarchi is currently a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and the Gill Chair in Biomolecular Sciences at Indiana University. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He is co-inventor on more than 100 US patents and co-author of more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific publications. His past awards include: the 2011 Merrifield Award for career contributions in peptide sciences, the 2014 German National Erwin Schrödinger-Preis, the 2015 Meienhofer Prize, the 2015 Max Bergmann Medal, and the 2016 American Chemical Society’s Alfred Burger career award in medicinal chemistry. In addition, since 2003, he has co-founded eight successful biotech companies (Ambrx, Marcadia, Calibrium, MB2, Assembly, MBX Biosciences, Penguin and Bluewater).