Eli Lilly and Company, a major pharmaceutical company by market capitalization, was founded in 1876.
Colonel Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical chemist and Union Army veteran, founded the company in Indianapolis, Indiana, in May 1876. He established it after becoming dissatisfied with the inconsistent quality of medicines commonly available in the nineteenth century.
Lilly emphasized standardized pharmaceutical manufacturing and invested in research. The company later became especially associated with insulin, psychiatric medicines, diabetes treatments, and other prescription drugs.
Eli Lilly and Company is often confused with Eli Lilly, the founder himself, or with unrelated businesses that use the Lilly surname. The corporate name refers to the pharmaceutical company, whose long history began more than a century before modern biotechnology and large-scale drug development.