In 2006, Eli Lilly and Company marked its 130th anniversary. The global, research-based company was founded by Colonel Eli Lilly in May of 1876, in Indianapolis, Indiana. A 38-year-old pharmacist and a veteran of the US 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:
- He would found a company that manufactured pharmaceutical products of the highest possible quality;
- His company would develop only medicines that would be dispensed at the suggestion of physicians rather than by eloquent sideshow hucksters;
- 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.
Through the legacy of leadership provided by Colonel Lilly and subsequently his son and grandsons, the management style that has epitomized our corporate culture to this day was established. Lilly employees are and always have been the company's most valuable assets.
In the 1920s, Eli Lilly and Company began a research collaboration with Canada’s own Dr. Frederick Banting and Charles Best that would eventually produce the world's first available insulin to treat diabetes. This led to the establishment of Eli Lilly Canada in 1938.
Eli Lilly Canada was first located in the Terminal Warehouse at the foot of York Street in downtown Toronto; the company later built its first facility, on Danforth Avenue, in 1946 – where the Canadian head office still stands today. The company also has regional offices located in Guelph, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec.
