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Company
History | Research Milestones | Company
Profile | Highlights
Eli Lilly and Company is a global, research-based company
founded by Colonel Eli Lilly in 1876 in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the
Midwestern section of the United States. A 38-year-old pharmaceutical
chemist and a veteran of the U.S. Civil War, Colonel Lilly was frustrated
by the poorly prepared, often ineffective medicines of his day. Consequently,
he made these commitments to himself and to society:
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He would found a company that manufactured pharmaceutical products the
highest possible quality.
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company would develop only medicines that would be dispensed at the
suggestion of physicians rather than by eloquent sideshow hucksters.
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Lilly pharmaceuticals would be based on the best science of the day.
Although his business flourished, Colonel Lilly wasn't satisfied with
the traditional methods of testing the quality of his products. In 1886,
he hired a young chemist to function as a full-time scientist, using and
improving upon the newest techniques for quality evaluation. Together,
they laid the foundation for the Lilly tradition: a dedication that first
concentrated on the quality of existing products and later expanded to
include the discovery and development of new and better pharmaceuticals.
Eventually,
Colonel Lilly's son, Josiah K. Lilly, Sr., and two grandsons, Eli Lilly
and Josiah K. Lilly, Jr., each served as president of the company. And
each contributed a distinctive approach to management. Together, these
management styles established a corporate culture in which Lilly employees
were viewed as the company's most valuable assets, a belief that is still
the cornerstone of our corporate philosophy.
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