Eli Lilly and Company , doing business as Lilly , is an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis , Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately countries. The company was founded in by Eli Lilly , a pharmaceutical chemist and Union Army veteran of the American Civil War for whom the company was later named.
Lilly is known for its clinical depression drugs Prozac fluoxetine , Cymbalta duloxetine , and its antipsychotic medication Zyprexa olanzapine The company's primary revenue drivers are the diabetes drugs Humalog insulin lispro and Trulicity dulaglutide Lilly was the first company to mass-produce both the polio vaccine , developed in by Jonas Salk , and insulin.
It was one of the first pharmaceutical companies to produce human insulin using recombinant DNA , including Humulin insulin medication , Humalog insulin lispro , and the first approved biosimilar insulin product in the U. As of , it was both the largest corporation and the largest charitable benefactor in Indiana. Lilly served as the company president until his death in In , after working for drugstores in Indiana, Lilly became a partner in a Paris, Illinois -based drugstore with James W.
In , Lilly partnered with John F. Johnston, and opened a drug manufacturing operation called Johnston and Lilly. Two years later, in , Lilly dissolved the partnership, and used his share of the assets to open his own pharmaceutical manufacturing business, Eli Lilly and Company, in Indianapolis. Lilly began his manufacturing venture with three employees, including his son, Josiah J.
In , Lilly hired his brother, James, as his first full-time salesman, and the subsequent sales team marketed the company's drugs nationally. In , the company moved to its current headquarters in Indianapolis's south-side industrial area, and the company later purchased additional facilities for research and production. Lilly's first innovative product was gelatin -coating for pills and capsules. The company's other early innovations included fruit flavorings and sugarcoated pills, which made the medicines easier to swallow.
