Fitch places Lilly ratings on negative watch list

NEW YORK - Fitch Ratings placed a negative rating on several indicators of Eli Lilly's debt Monday, after the drugmaker said it would buy biotech drugmaker ImClone for more than $6 billion. The deal is expected to boost Lilly's portfolio of cancer drugs as several of its best-selling medications approach patent expiration. However, Fitch warned that the acquisition would increase the Indianapolis-based company's leverage from $2 billion to $3 billion. The credit rating service said this leverage would become even... [read full story]