Despite cutting thousands of jobs in recent years, Eli Lilly and Co. continues to swing a mighty bat in Indiana’s economy, including its $1.5 billion annual statewide payroll and billions in purchases, employee spending and taxes.

Those are numbers that could help the drug maker sell its story that what’s good for Lilly is good for Indiana.

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And as the national health-care debate heats up this summer, that message could resonate with politicians and consumers.

A study commissioned by Lilly and issued today by Indiana University offers the latest look at the company’s economic footprint. It concludes that Lilly contributed $8.03 billion, or approximately 3.3 percent, to Indiana’s gross state product in 2007.

The report comes out as big pharmaceutical companies find themselves on the defensive. Some critics have painted them as profit-mongers and more interested in promoting expensive lifestyle drugs than developing critical new medicines.

Les Funtleyder, a drug analyst for Miller Tabak&Co. in New York, said Lilly and other drug makers are pulling out all the stops in the political battle over health care.

“From a political approach, it’s not a bad idea to have hard information like this in hand, rather than just opinions and 10-year-old facts,” he said.

The report is the first such examination of Lilly since 1999, when it also contributed about 3 percent of the state’s economic output.

Since then, Lilly has shed thousands of jobs; sold several properties, including its Greenfield Laboratories; and shifted a greater portion of its services to outside contractors.

But the company remains a major economic player because it pays high wages, makes a lot of local purchases and produces high-value products.

“No question, Lilly has a significant impact on Indiana’s economy,” said Bruce L. Jaffee, professor of business economics and public policy at IU’s Kelley School of Business in Bloomington.

Lilly said the IU report offers “good, credible data” to support its argument that policymakers should protect the innovative work it does.

“I can’t think of a time there has been more at stake for Lilly than right now with the health-care debate,” said Bart Peterson, the former Indianapolis mayor who recently became Lilly’s top spokesman and lobbyist. “Lilly’s commitment to Indiana is very strong, and it’s important that policymakers not damage this innovation machine and not damage the economy.”

Indiana politicians are all over the map on whether to support sweeping health-care reform or take smaller steps.

Sen. Richard Lugar, a Republican, said he supports incremental steps. Indiana’s Democrats include several moderates who also may be wary of a public health-care plan. Sen. Evan Bayh, a Democrat whose wife serves on the board of health insurer WellPoint, said he has an open mind on the idea of a public plan.

Three of Indiana’s House members — Reps. Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill — are members of the fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition. The group says a public plan must be limited and used only as a backup if private insurers don’t lower costs.

Lilly has taken a lead role in the national debate, arguing that the federal government should not put a price cap on drugs, a step it says could hurt the development of life-saving medicines for such maladies as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

The company warns that any radical steps to overhaul the system could hurt its innovation and its economic contributions to Indiana.

The report gives Lilly plenty of ammunition to show that, despite recent downsizings and property sales, it continues to support tens of thousands of Indiana households and businesses.

Lilly commissioned the 13-page report, which is sure to cause some critics to say the conclusions should be taken with a grain of salt. The company paid $20,000 for the study, Jaffee said.

In addition to employing more than 14,000 people, Lilly supports thousands through ripple effects, accounting for about 43,500 jobs statewide, the report said. Those jobs include company suppliers and retailers in neighborhoods where workers live.

Some drug analysts said Lilly is smart to get its numbers in a straight line.

“Pharmaceutical companies are not the bad guy, and they need to say so,” said Linda Bannister, a drug analyst with Edward Jones&Co. in St. Louis. “They play an important role in our lives and in our economy.”

Steven D. Findlay, managing editor of Consumer Reports, said Big Pharma’s argument that the industry is an “innovation machine” is not quite true of late. Across the nation, sales have fallen and pipelines have dried up. In recent years, the number of drugs introduced has fallen sharply. Lilly hasn’t launched a new medicine for humans in four years.

“The problem for pharma is it hasn’t been very productive in producing valuable new drugs,” Findlay said. “Drug makers might be big employers. But they haven’t been as efficient and productive as they should have been.”

(as of January)

[chart]|Rank|Company|Employees||1|Wal-Mart Stores|41,500||2|U.S. government|37,100||3|State of Indiana|32,000||4|Indiana University|16,800||5|Clarian Health|15,200||6|Eli Lilly and Co.|14,700|[end chart]

Sources: Eli Lilly and Co., Indiana University, Indiana Chamber of Commerce