Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 11, 2009



Eli Lilly (1838–1898) was a soldier, pharmaceutical chemist, industrialist, and founder of the Eli Lilly and Company pharmaceutical corporation. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War, he recruited a company of men to serve with him, and was later promoted to colonel and given command of a force of cavalry. After the war, he attempted to run a plantation in Mississippi but failed and returned to his pharmacy profession after the death of his wife. He opened his own business in 1876 with plans to manufacture drugs and market them wholesale to pharmacies. His company was successful and he soon became wealthy after making numerous advances in medicinal drug manufacturing. Two of the early advances he pioneered were creating gelatin capsules to hold medicine and fruit flavoring for liquid medicines. Eli Lilly & Co. was the first pharmaceutical company of its kind; it staffed a dedicated research department and put in place numerous quality assurance measures. Lilly was an advocate of federal regulation of the pharmaceutical industry and many of his suggested reforms were enacted into law in 1906, resulting in the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. He was also among the pioneers of the concept of prescriptions. (more...)

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