INDIANAPOLIS - There are some life experiences few will ever have. And as the oldest of nine children and CEO of a Fortune 500 company, John Lechleiter has a couple under his belt.

Eli Lilly and Co.'s chairman and CEO, Leichleiter brings some of his childhood lessons to bear in leading the major drug company, which is based in Indianapolis.

At the moment, the Harvard-trained chemist is trying to rally support on Wall Street. Management has raised Lilly's 2009 profit outlook twice since July, yet analysts still say the company's future is far from secure.

They question whether Lilly can fill a gaping revenue hole that will open in a few years when drugs that currently account for more than half of Lilly sales lose patent protection.

Where's the new revenue going to come from? Analysts see bigger competitors like Pfizer and Merck making huge acquisitions to add new revenue sources. Meanwhile, Lilly stakes its future on its own pipeline of drugs in development, which is only now emerging from a roughly four-year drought with the launch of the blood thinner Effient in August.

But Lechleiter says Lilly's pipeline has helped it rebound from significant patent losses three times during his 30-year career at the company. He's betting there will be a fourth, due in part to a reorganization announced last month that aims to speed up drug development.

Some of Leichleiter's resolve also traces back to his father, who supported a large family while enduring the ups and downs of the automobile industry at his Louisville, Ky., car dealership.

Lechleiter sat for a recent interview in Lilly's Heritage Hall museum, which highlights the company's 133-year history. Here are some excerpts.

Q. Lilly touts more than 60 drugs under development, but the approval process has grown tougher, generic competition is intense and many analysts doubt the strength of your pipeline. Why do you have so much faith?

A. I wish we could order up innovation and smooth out the inevitable ups and downs that patent expirations yield. We can't always do that.

I think what we're trying to do instead is focus on running the business the right way - through what we know is going to be a challenging period - and then do everything in our power to speed up the progression through the pipeline of those drugs that we reckon are going to make a difference early in the next decade.

Q. You're facing patent expirations for your two best-selling drugs, the antipsychotic Zyprexa and the antidepressant Cymbalta, and other blockbusters. You think your pipeline can replace what they generate?

A. We haven't given specific guidance about what we think we will or won't replace out of that.