So who is John Lechleiter? He succeeds Sid Taurel tomorrow at a time when the drugmaker faces several interesting challenges - looming patent expirations, an unimpressive stock performance, pressure to develop new drugs and terrible publicity over government lawsuits charging its Zyprexa antipsychotic was improperly marketed while serious side effect data was hidden.

In an attempt to put a new face on these troubles, the president and chief operating officer allows a reporter from The Associated Press to accompany him on his mile-long walk to the office while he chats about growing up in a crowded household. Lechleiter also emphasizes how he wants Lilly employees to feel connected, so he blogs a bit on his Blackberry and “boasts that no corporate communications rep reviews it beforehand.” It’s not public, though.

And like many execs at big drugmakers, he talks up the Lilly pipeline by emphasizing protein-based drugs being evaluated in the pipeline. And he puts his own special spin on the message. “In a way, we’re a biotech company hidden within what’s called a large pharma company,” he tells the AP. There was apparently no discussion, however, of a 2003 e-mail in which Lechleiter appeared to suggest Zyprexa should be promoted for youngsters; at the time, the med wasn’t approved for kids. Here’s the piece.