The U.S. government needs to open its borders to attract and retain talented scientists for drugmakers to employ, Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) Chief Executive Officer John Lechleiter plans to tell a technology conference today. The pharmaceutical industry faces $1.3 billion in development costs for a single drug and had 95 Food and Drug Administration clearances in the past five years, the lowest in such a span since the late 1970s. The industry is in a six-year window when products that make up 40 percent of pharmaceutical sales lose patent protection, equivalent to a $100 billion loss in annual revenue, he said.
