Eli Lilly and Company

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Eli Lilly’s headquarters in Indianapolis, where the company has been based since its founding in 1876.

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Eli Lilly and Company is one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Among its best-known products are Cialis, a treatment for erectile dysfunction; Prozac, an antidepressant; Zyprexa, an antipsychotic; and diabetes medications Trulicity, Mounjaro, and Jardiance. In 2023, Lilly began selling Zepbound, an injectable medication for adults with obesity and weight-related conditions.

Founded in 1876, Lilly became a publicly traded company in 1952. As of 2025, the company employed more than 50,000 workers worldwide.

Eli Lilly and Company was established in May 1876 in Indianapolis, Indiana, by Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical chemist who served as a colonel in the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War. His previous ventures included a drug store in Paris, Illinois, and a drug-manufacturing business in Indianapolis called Johnston and Lilly, which lasted just two years. Lilly used funds from the dissolved business to establish Eli Lilly and Company.

The company began with three employees, including Lilly’s son, Josiah, known as J.K., and produced medicinal drugs. Its first major product was quinine, used to treat malaria. By the end of 1876, sales had exceeded $4,900, and totaled $48,000 three years later. Lilly brought on his brother, James, as the company’s first salesman, and the company started selling to drugstores nationwide. The company’s growth led to expanded production and research facilities.

Eli Lilly and Company was incorporated under that name in 1881, followed by the establishment of a board of directors. A year later, J.K. Lilly, a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, returned to the company as a pharmaceutical chemist and was made superintendent of its research laboratory. J.K. Lilly became president of the company in 1898 and ran the company for 34 years.

Lilly expanded during the final two decades of the 19th century. By then, it had more than 100 employees and over two dozen buildings for administration and research.

Lilly continued to grow as the 1900s dawned. Manufacturing facilities were expanded to meet demand, and in 1913, the company established a plant to produce capsules. That year, Lilly Biological Laboratories was established in Greenfield, Indiana, for research and manufacturing.

Research led to innovations such as gelatin capsules, which made medications easier to swallow and dose. Lilly became the largest medicinal capsule manufacturer in the world, producing enough for its own drugs and selling the excess to other firms. The company also developed fruit flavorings and sugar coatings to make medications more palatable.

In 1926, the company introduced “straight-line production,” in which raw ingredients enter at one end and finished products exit at the other. This process lowered costs, increased speed, and reduced production errors. It also supported a steadier workforce. During off periods, Lilly manufactured cheaper, more common medications to keep the factory running. By the end of 1926, it produced more than 2,800 items and recorded $9 million in sales.

One of the most significant developments was insulin, used to treat diabetes, which was often fatal. Researchers at the University of Toronto were developing an experimental insulin treatment, and in 1921, Lilly approached them about a partnership. The researchers agreed in 1923, and Lilly became the first large-scale producer of insulin. Two forms of liver extract, used for the treatment of anemia, were also introduced during this period.

Lilly remained profitable during the Great Depression. Colonel Eli Lilly’s eldest grandson, also named Eli, became the company president in 1932 and introduced measures to improve productivity and reduce costs. The company opened its first overseas subsidiary in England in 1934, headquartered in London.

During World War II, Lilly aided the war effort by mass-producing several products, most notably penicillin (an antibiotic) and benzalkonium chloride, an antiseptic sold under the brand name Merthiolate. The company also processed more than two million pints of blood plasma over the course of the war in association with the American Red Cross.

Lilly also expanded into Africa, Asia, and South America through Eli Lilly International Corp., while continuing to grow domestically. At the war’s end, the company purchased the Curtiss-Wright propeller factory in Indianapolis and transformed it into a manufacturing plant for antibiotics and capsules. By 1948, Lilly reported more than $117 million in sales.

In the postwar years, Lilly introduced several drugs, including:

Lilly was also one of several companies involved in the manufacture and distribution of the poliomyelitis vaccine developed by Jonas Salk in 1953.

In 1954, the company entered the veterinary drug market with the establishment of the Elanco Products Company.

Beginning in the 1970s, the expiration of pharmaceutical patents led to the rise of lower-cost generic drugs that reduced profits. Lilly responded by expanding into animal health, agricultural products, cosmetics, and new prescription drugs.

During this period, Lilly also introduced several widely used drugs, including the antidepressant Cymbalta and the psoriasis treatment Taltz.

In addition to research and development, Lilly expanded through acquisitions and partnerships in the late 20th and early 21st centuries:

Eli Lilly and Company has faced controversies and legal actions over its history. It recorded its first quarterly loss as a publicly traded company just 20 months after hiring Vaughn Bryson as CEO in 1991. Bryson left two years later and was replaced by Randall L. Tobias, a Lilly board member and a vice chairman at AT&T; Tobias was also named chair and president. Tobias led the company until 1998, when he was replaced as CEO by Sidney Taurel.

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Prozac, a psychotropic drug prescribed for the treatment of depression.

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Several drugs manufactured or marketed by Lilly have been the subject of lawsuits:

Many of these cases resulted in financial settlements or the discontinuation of the drug.

In 2009, Lilly paid a then-record $1.42 billion criminal fine for unlawfully marketing Zyprexa, the antipsychotic drug olanzapine, for dementia and pediatric use after its approval as a treatment for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in adults. The company also agreed to pay $1.2 billion in 2007 to settle nearly 30,000 lawsuits from Zyprexa users who alleged they developed diabetes as a result.

In 2019, congressional leaders criticized Lilly for the high cost of insulin compared with prices in other countries. The company later capped monthly insulin costs at $35 for some patients on government insurance.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Lilly and codeveloper Incyte received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for the anti-inflammatory drug baricitinib, sold under the brand name Olumiant, to treat COVID-19. A COVID-19 treatment that combined bamlanivimab and etesevimab received FDA approval in February 2021, but was paused four months later when it was discovered that the treatment was ineffective against certain variants of the virus.

In the early 2020s, Lilly expanded its research and development of drugs specifically for weight loss. One drug, tirzepatide, initially approved as a diabetes medication under the name Mounjaro, was shown in 2023 clinical trials to help patients lose weight. In November 2023, the FDA approved it for chronic weight management in adults with obesity or overweight, and Lilly began selling it under the brand name Zepbound.

Zepbound positioned Lilly to compete with Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, two of the most popular weight-loss drugs in the world.

In March 2024, Lilly reached an agreement with Amazon Pharmacy to provide home delivery of several of its drugs, including Zepbound. The service is available through LillyDirect, a website launched earlier that year.

In April 2026, Lilly agreed to acquire cancer biotechnology company Kelonia Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $7 billion. The acquisition was part of Lilly’s push to expand its cancer treatments and diversify beyond its diabetes and weight-loss business.

Eli Lilly and Company developed and marketed a wide range of drugs and expanded through acquisitions and international growth. It operates manufacturing and research facilities in multiple countries and is among the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.