FAQ

Lilly provides funding to organizations to support projects that enable the advancement of patient care. The LGO will accept the following grant requests:

A grant Lilly funds to support independent projects that utilize systematic, continuous interventions to improve care delivery within a specific health system. These grants should result in measurable improvements in specific patient groups.

We recognize HCPs value and seek independent fair-balanced education that does not insert commercial bias. We believe education is a source to accelerating personalized evidence into practice for the best interest of HCPs and patients. Therefore, Lilly is committed to supporting high-quality education that provides HCPs with evidence-based, clinically relevant content that advances learners’ knowledge, competence, and performance to ultimately benefit patients.

Lilly adheres to the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education established by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME™). We also comply with the principles established by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Compliance Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Code on Interactions with Medical Professionals.

The LGO will consider proposals for all medical educational activities for HCPs; however, accredited programs for HCPs will receive the highest priority. The LGO applies the same standards of independence to non-CME grants regarding content, influence, faculty selection, educational methods, materials, venues, and attendees as it does to CME grants.

If your organization provides services for both grant-funded education and Lilly-directed education (in any capacity), it is important we understand the firewalls in place between the teams working on Lilly-directed initiatives from those working on IME supported via the LGO. It is critical that we ensure appropriate firewalls are in place within your organization to allow us to compliantly operate across these two important scopes of work. Our commitment for IME is to fund independent, fair and balanced, scientifically accurate initiatives that receive no influence from our organization in either submission, design, or implementation. If your organization is also supporting Lilly-directed education in some capacity, and appropriate firewalls are not clearly and compliantly in place, your organization will not be able to receive a grant from the LGO.

Lilly prohibits grant requestors and their educational partners (i.e., third-party providers) from performing promotional activities for Lilly while also contributing to, providing, or accrediting IME funded in whole or part by Lilly, unless there is sufficient separation between the grant requestor's and partner's promotional and medical education business units. The ACCME requires an accredited CME provider be a separate legal entity from the organization that provides promotional services and requires proper firewalls in place between the business units. Proof of documentation may be requested.

No. IME funding requests cannot include costs for promotional exhibit opportunities or any sponsorships requests in any manner. This applies to both accredited and non-accredited education.

No. The LGO does not provide unrestricted grants. The purpose for the grant must be designated in the grant application and program detail. Grant funding can only be used for the details outlined in the proposal. Any further restrictions will be included in the Letter of Agreement.

No. Only online applications will be considered. Applications must be submitted through your portal account on the online portal. Once your online application is submitted, you will receive an acknowledgement at the e-mail address indicated on your application.

Complete a new user registration by providing basic business contact information and a password. After your registration is created, you will be able to log in to our grant management portal. Your first time in the portal you will be asked to either link to an existing organization or create a new organization.

Immediately following completion of your registration, you may submit a grant application.

Applications should be submitted as far in advance as possible, however applications must be submitted at least 60 days prior to the overall program start date or they cannot be considered for review. Also, as the laws and requirements for many countries outside the United States continue to evolve, we are noticing some new requirements are adding time to the review and approval process. It is recommended for organizations outside the United States or for grant submissions with events occurring outside the United States that applications be submitted at least 120 days prior to the overall program start date.

The LGO accepts grant applications for the current calendar year during the months of January through September. We accept grant applications for the next calendar year starting in September; however, grants submitted in September and October will likely have a longer review time due to the timing of the planning process and determination of funding levels for the upcoming year.

A grant request submission includes completion of an online application as well as uploading required documentation, a full grant proposal and a budget at a minimum. A full grant proposal should be limited to 25 pages or less (not including references and budget). Requesting organizations are responsible for all data and information provided and must resolve any deficiencies or requests for additional information from the LGO. To reduce processing time, ensure submitted documentation is consistent with portal application entries.

Components of the full grant proposal vary by grant type. The most current grant submission requirements for each grant type are included in Step 2 of the application process on the portal for reference while applying for a grant. Information requested may include, but is not limited to, the following:

For non-quality improvement grants, please limit the length of your grant proposal to 25 pages or less (not including references and budget).

You can log into your portal account and from the Welcome screen navigate to the My Organization tab. You will see a summary list of all the grants submitted for your organization.

Note that communications about a specific grant may only be with authorized personnel for that grant and only the individual who submitted the request will be able to see the grant specifics and enter data for the grant in the portal.

No. Payment will only be issued to the organization that applied for the grant.

Lilly strives to uphold the highest standards in the way we conduct business. Therefore, the policies and procedures that govern our review of grants and contributions are designed to meet both the letter and the spirit of independence standards and ensure all grants and contributions are made in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Grant requests are evaluated by our LGO grant review committees consisting of personnel from the LGO as well as professionals from Lilly’s medical and/or corporate affairs organizations.

Completed applications are objectively evaluated based on several criteria including, but not limited to the following: clearly articulated evidence-based clinical care gaps, educational methodology/instructional design, appropriate target audience, efficient use of funds, availability of funds, and alignment with Lilly’s medical and scientific strategies and therapeutic areas of focus.

The LGO will do our best to provide a decision to you as quickly as possible, but please be aware that we cannot commit to a specific processing time period. Our goal is to review and make a decision within 60 days (for the U.S.) and 90-120 days (outside the U.S.) after we have received all the completed, required documentation. However, please be advised of the following:

• You can assist with minimizing the review time by providing complete and accurate documentation in a timely manner.
• If responses to LGO requests to resolve missing or incomplete information related to new grant application submissions are not received in a reasonable time frame, your grant will be cancelled and will not be reviewed.
• If the LGO does not receive all necessary documentation at least 60 days prior to the start date of your program, we cannot accept your grant request and it will be cancelled.
• Requests for the next calendar year may experience a longer wait time.

No. Each request is evaluated on its individual merit relative to other grant requests. Please do not consider any request approved until you have received written documentation from the LGO notifying you of grant approval.

No. Lilly is committed to improving patient care and providing valuable information to the scientific, medical, and broader healthcare community. As a result, the LGO receives numerous grant requests, making the grant process very competitive.

The LGO and all partner offices are independent of Lilly’s sales and marketing organizations. Sales and marketing personnel have no role in the grant review and approval process.

All Lilly personnel must respond to inquiries regarding a grant request by providing the requester with the LGO email address lillygrantoffice@lilly.com or the LGO website address https://www.grantoffice.lilly.com/.

You may check the status of all your grant requests by logging into your portal account and reviewing the My Grants tab at any time. You will receive email notification from the LGO of the grant committee’s decision if your grant is approved. If your grant has been denied, you will receive a system generated email letting you know. You can review the specific decision reason in your portal account.

Please do not consider any request approved until you have received written documentation, including a letter of agreement, from the LGO notifying you of approval. Only LGO personnel can approve, deny, or communicate grant decisions. Requestors should not accept any verbal commitments from sales representatives, medical liaisons, or any other Lilly employee, as they do not have access to the information and are not authorized to make such a commitment.

If your organization is on lockout, no new grants may be submitted and any grants in process will be placed on hold until lockout is removed. If an organization is locked out for non-compliance, all requestors from the locked-out organization can see the cause of the lockout by reviewing the My Organization tab in the online portal. Note that communications about a specific grant may only be with authorized personnel for that grant.

There may be instances in which the requester of a grant needs to propose changes to previously approved activities. Examples of modifications where a Change of Scope form would be required are:

If an approved grant needs to be modified, the requester should log into their portal account and download the Change of Scope request template from the Welcome screen. Using the “Upload Document” function on the Grant Summary screen, the completed template should be uploaded through the portal using the document type COS Template on the specific grant for which the change is being requested. The LGO will consider the change of scope for alignment with original scope of the activity and the resulting decision will be communicated to the requester. Approved changes may require an update to the letter of agreement. Changes which are denied may require return of funds.

The LGO provides funding to various organizations in the form of grants and charitable contributions to support healthcare professional education, education related to basic or preclinical science, patient advocacy, and consumer education programs as a part of our mission to increase healthcare knowledge, enhance patient care, and improve the healthcare system. By adding transparency to our educational grant funding and charitable contributions, we are making available to the public the nature of the relationships between our company and these organizations.

In the United States, Lilly follows disclosure requirements at the local, state, and federal levels. Outside the United States, in addition to adhering to local and national legislated requirements for countries in which we operate, Lilly participates in voluntary disclosure codes led by local trade associations.

Disclosing information about LGO grants is one of several areas of business activity for which Lilly discloses information to the public. For further detail on disclosure, view Lilly's transparency reporting information.

Lilly will disclose to the public all educational grants and charitable contributions made by the LGO to U.S.-based organizations on our website. The U.S. Grant Office Registry includes information such as organization name, grant amount, and program title and is updated quarterly to include all new grant funding provided during that period.

Consistent with company policies, applicable FDA regulations, and rules of the ACCME and other accreditation groups, Lilly as a commercial supporter is not permitted to control the content of activities funded through grants. The LGO applies this policy to all educational activities funded through the LGO. Thus, it is possible that educational programs funded via the LGO will discuss off-label uses of our products. However, such content would have been independently determined by the grant recipient and, per above policies, Lilly would have no input. Lilly does not support independent education, or any medical activities, for the purpose of encouraging off-label use of our products.

The LGO receives, evaluates, and renders decisions on most of the grant requests the company receives. However, the Lilly Foundation and country-specific Lilly offices also provide grant funding.

The Lilly Foundation , a separate organization, awards grants for philanthropic programs aligned with the company’s corporate responsibility priorities. For more information regarding the focus of the Lilly Foundation, please review the details on their website. The Lilly Foundation does not currently support any independent medical education programs and is not included in any reports found on this website.

Outside of the U.S., grant requests for single-country educational programs and events are submitted to the Lilly office responsible for operations in that country for evaluation and funding consideration.

No. The rules governing accreditation of activities do not permit commercial supporters of accredited education to control the content of independent medical education activities funded through grants. The LGO applies this policy to all educational activities funded through the LGO and therefore, the LGO has made the determination that we will not provide medical and/or scientific reviews to grant recipients.