Aug 7 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly ( LLY ) CEO David Ricks said

the U.S. pharmaceutical market's structure needs "urgent reform"

before any meaningful changes to drug pricing can be

implemented.

His comments come after Lilly, along with 16 other major

drugmakers, received a letter from President Donald Trump on

July 31, urging them to cut U.S. drug prices to match those paid

by other wealthy nations.

On call with analysts on Thursday, Ricks said he backed the

Trump administration's push for more equitable global sharing of

medical research costs, but warned that directly comparing the

different pricing systems could be "inaccurate and misleading."