Eli Lilly and Company facts for kids
Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2019
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| Public | |
| Traded as | |
| ISIN | [https://isin.toolforge.org/?language=en&isin=US5324571083 US5324571083] |
| Industry | Pharmaceutical |
| Founded | 1876 |
| Founder | Eli Lilly |
| Headquarters | Indianapolis, Indiana, US |
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Key people
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| Products | Pharmaceutical drugs |
| Revenue |  US$63.50 billion (2025) |
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Operating income
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US$23.70 billion (2025) |
| US$18.41 billion (2025) |
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| Total assets | US$114.93 billion (2025) |
| Total equity | US$89.389 billion (2025) |
| Owner | Lilly Endowment (10.8%) |
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Number of employees
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47,000 (2025) |
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Eli Lilly and Company, also known as Lilly, is a big American company that makes medicines. Its main office is in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Lilly has offices in 18 countries and sells its products in about 125 countries around the world.
The company was started in 1876 by Eli Lilly. He was a chemist and a veteran of the American Civil War. The company is named after him.
Lilly is one of the largest and most valuable pharmaceutical companies globally. It is ranked highly on important business lists like the Fortune 500. In November 2025, it became the first health-care company to be worth $1 trillion!
Lilly makes many important medicines. Some of its main products include:
- Tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound) helps people with type 2 diabetes and also helps with weight loss.
- Abemaciclib (Verzenio) is used to treat advanced breast cancer.
- Dulaglutide (Trulicity) also helps people with type 2 diabetes.
- Ixekizumab (Taltz) treats certain autoimmune diseases.
- Empagliflozin (Jardiance) is another medicine for type 2 diabetes.
- Insulin lispro (Humalog) and insulin (Humulin) are special types of insulin that help manage high blood glucose.
- Ramucirumab (Cyramza) is a medicine used to treat cancer.
- Baricitinib (Olumiant) helps with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, alopecia areata, and COVID-19.
- Galcanezumab (Emgality) helps prevent migraine headaches.
Lilly was the first company to make a lot of the polio vaccine and insulin. They were also pioneers in making human insulin using advanced scientific methods. They also created popular medicines for major depressive disorder like Prozac and Cymbalta, and an antipsychotic medicine called Zyprexa.
The Lilly Endowment is a charity started by the Lilly family. It owns a part of the company.
Contents
History of Eli Lilly and Company
How the Company Started
Colonel Eli Lilly was a pharmacist and a soldier from the American Civil War. He started Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis in 1876. He was the company president until he passed away in 1898.
Before starting his own company, Eli Lilly worked in drugstores. In 1876, he decided to open his own business to make medicines. The sign above his shop said, "Eli Lilly, Chemist."
One of the first medicines Lilly made was quinine, which was used to treat malaria. By the end of 1876, the company had made $4,470 in sales.
Eli Lilly's son, Josiah (J. K.), joined the company. Around 1890, Colonel Lilly handed over the daily running of the business to Josiah. Colonel Lilly then spent his time helping local organizations in Indianapolis.
Growing in the 1800s
In 1878, Lilly hired his brother, James, as the first full-time salesperson. Soon, a sales team helped sell the company's medicines all over the country. By 1879, sales grew to $48,000.
The company moved its headquarters to a larger building in Indianapolis. In 1881, it moved to its current location in the city's industrial area. That same year, Eli Lilly and Company officially became a corporation.
Lilly was one of the first companies to put medicines into gelatin capsules. This made them easier to take. They also added fruit flavors and sugar coatings to pills.
In 1882, Josiah K. Lilly Sr. finished his studies as a pharmaceutical chemist and joined the family business.
By the late 1880s, the company had over 100 employees and made $200,000 in sales each year.
In 1890, Josiah K. Lilly Sr. took full charge of the company. Even during tough economic times, the company did well. They bought a factory just for making capsules and used new machines to make them faster. They made tens of millions of capsules and pills every year.
When Colonel Lilly passed away in 1898, Josiah K. Lilly Sr. became president. The company had over 2,000 different products and sales of more than $300,000. Colonel Lilly was known for making medicines more reliable and for his ethical practices. Josiah K. Lilly Sr. continued to push for rules to make medicines safer.
As Lilly grew, other businesses opened nearby, making the area a busy industrial center. Lilly's operations in Indianapolis eventually covered a large area with many buildings.
Innovations in the Early 1900s
In 1905, Josiah K. Lilly Sr. led a big expansion, and the company's yearly sales reached $1 million. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Lilly sent much-needed medicine to help with recovery.
Before and after World War I, the company grew quickly. They built new factories and a Science Building to improve how they made medicines. In 1913, they started building research and manufacturing plants near Greenfield, Indiana.
After World War I, Lilly started focusing more on scientific research. In 1919, Josiah Lilly hired a biochemist named George Henry Alexander Clowes. He helped Lilly work with scientists from the University of Toronto who were developing insulin. This partnership was very important for Lilly's future.
In 1923, Lilly started selling Iletin, which was the first widely available insulin product in the US for treating diabetes. The scientists who discovered insulin, Frederick Banting and John Macleod, won the Nobel Prize for their work. Insulin became one of the most important medicines in Lilly's history and helped make it a leading pharmaceutical company.
By 1926, on its 50th anniversary, Lilly's sales reached $9 million, and it made over 2,800 different products.
In the 1930s, Lilly continued to grow internationally. In 1934, they opened their first overseas office and factory in London, England. Even during the Great Depression, Lilly's sales kept growing. In 1932, Eli Lilly, the founder's grandson, became president. He focused on making production more efficient and expanding research.
Lilly also developed thiomersal, a preservative used in vaccines. In 1934, the company opened new research laboratories in Indianapolis, which were some of the best in the world.
During World War II, Lilly greatly increased its production. They made penicillin, an important antibiotic, and helped process blood plasma for the American Red Cross. By the end of the war, Lilly had dried over two million pints of blood. They also made other medicines for military use.
After the war, Lilly continued to expand its factories.
In 1948, Eli Lilly Jr. retired as president, and his brother, Josiah Jr. (Joe), took over. Under Eli Jr.'s leadership, sales had grown from $13 million to $117 million.
Modern Growth and New Medicines
In the 1950s, Lilly introduced new antibiotics like vancomycin and erythromycin. The company also started making products for other areas, such as veterinary medicine (through a division called Elanco) and agricultural chemicals.
In 1952, Lilly offered its shares to the public for the first time, meaning people could buy parts of the company.
A very important moment came in 1955 when Lilly manufactured 60% of the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk. This vaccine helped protect many children from polio.
Lilly continued to expand globally, opening research facilities in England in 1968.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Lilly developed many new medicines, including antibiotics like Keflex and Ceclore, and heart drugs like Dobutrex.
In 1988, Lilly introduced Fluoxetine (Prozac), which quickly became a best-selling medicine for treating depression. It worked by affecting a chemical in the brain called serotonin.
In the 1990s, Lilly continued to grow and change. They acquired other companies to expand their work in areas like medical devices and health benefits.
In 1996, Lilly released Zyprexa (Olanzapine), a medicine for conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. They also developed Gemzar (gemcitabine) for treating pancreatic cancer and lung cancer.
Lilly in the 21st Century
In the early 2000s, Lilly partnered with other companies to develop new medicines. In 2005, they introduced Exenatide, a new type of medicine for diabetes.
In 2003, Lilly launched Cialis (tadalafil), a medicine for certain health conditions.
In 2004, Lilly introduced Cymbalta (duloxetine), which became very successful for treating major depressive disorders and generalized anxiety disorder, as well as other pain conditions.
Lilly continued to acquire other companies to strengthen its research in areas like animal health and cancer treatments. For example, in 2014, Lilly acquired Novartis AG's animal health business to boost its Elanco unit.
In 2019, Lilly spun off Elanco, making it a separate company. Later that year, Elanco acquired Bayer's animal health business.
In 2020, Lilly became involved in the global effort to fight COVID-19. They worked with AbCellera to develop a potential monoclonal antibody treatment for the virus. They even created mobile research units to reach people in different locations for clinical trials.
In 2022, the FDA approved Lilly's medicine Mounjaro (tirzepatide) for type 2 diabetes. In November 2023, the FDA also approved tirzepatide for treating obesity under the brand name Zepbound.
In 2023, Lilly announced a $35 cap on the monthly price of insulin to help make it more affordable.
In 2024, the FDA and the UK approved Donanemab (Kisunla), a new medicine for treating Alzheimer's disease.
In January 2026, Eli Lilly announced plans to buy Ventyx Biosciences for $1.2 billion. This transaction was expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.
Acquisition History
- Eli Lilly and Company (founded 1876)
- Eli Lilly and Company
- Distillers Company (acq. 1962)
- Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (acq. 1971, sold Fabergé in 1987)
- IVAC Corporation (acq. 1977)
- Cardiac Pacemakers Inc. (acq. 1977)
- Physio-Control Inc (acq. 1980)
- Advance Cardiovasular Systems Inc. (acq. 1984)
- Hybritech (acq. 1986)
- Devices for Vascular Intervention Inc. (acq. 1986)
- Pacific Biotech (acq. 1990)
- Origin Medsystems (acq. 1992)
- Heart Rhythm Technologies, Inc. (acq. 1992)
- PCS System (acq. 1994)
- Icos Corporation (acq. 2007)
- Hypnion, Inc
- ImClone Systems
- SGX Pharmaceuticals, Inc (acq. 2008)
- Avid Radiopharmaceuticals (acq. 2010)
- Alnara Pharmaceuticals(acq. 2010)
- CoLucid Pharmaceuticals (acq. 2017)
- Armo Biosciences (acq. 2018)
- AurKa Pharma (acq. 2018)
- Loxo Oncology (acq. 2019)
- Disarm Therapeutics (acq. 2020)
- Prevail Therapeutics Inc (acq. 2020)
- Elanco Products Company (established 1954 as a division of Eli Lilly and Company)
- DowElanco (established 1989 as joint venture with Dow Chemical, sold stake 1999 to Dow)
- Ivy Animal Health (acq. 2007)
- Pfizer Animal Health (acq. 2010)
- Janssen Pharmaceutica Animal Health (acq. 2011)
- ChemGen Corp(acq. 2012)
- Lohmann SE(acq. 2014)
- Novartis Animal Health (acq. 2014)
- Bayer Animal Health (acq. 2019)
- Protomer Technologies (acq. 2021)
- Akouos Inc (acq. 2022)
- Dice Therapeutics (acq. 2023)
- Emergence Therapeutics (acq. 2023)
- Sigilon Therapeutics (acq. 2023)
- Versanis Bio (acq. 2023)
- Mablink Bioscience (acq. 2023)
- Point Biopharma (acq. 2023)
- Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly's Contributions and Support
Eli Lilly and Company supports many important organizations. They have given money to groups like the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, McMaster University, University of Toronto, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. These organizations do research and help people with various health conditions.
The company also works with groups that represent the pharmaceutical industry to help shape health policies and research efforts.
See also
In Spanish: Eli Lilly and Company para niños
