<P> Eli Lilly and Company has a long history of collaboration with research scientists . In 1886 Ernest G. Eberhardt, a chemist, joined the company as its first full - time research scientist . Lilly also hired two botanists, Walter H. Evans and John S. Wright, to join its early research efforts . After World War I the company's expanded production facilities and introduction of new management methods set the stage for Lilly's next crucial phase--its "aggressive entry into scientific research and development ." The first big step came in 1919 when Josiah Lilly hired biochemist George Henry Alexander Clowes as director of biochemical research . Clowes had extensive medical research expertise and links to the scientific research community, which led to the company's collaborations with researchers in the U.S. and elsewhere . Clowes's first major collaboration with researchers who developed insulin at the University of Toronto significantly impacted the company's future . Lilly's success with insulin production secured the company's position as a leading research - based pharmaceutical manufacturer, allowing it to attract and hire more research scientists and to collaborate with other universities in additional medical research . In 1934 the company built a new research laboratory in Indianapolis . As part of its research and product development process Lilly also conducted clinical studies at Indianapolis City Hospital (Wishard Memorial Hospital). Lilly continues to conduct clinical studies to test medications before their introduction to the market . In 1949 Eli Lilly actually went into partnership with the United States Army Reserve setting up a local Strategic Intelligence Research and Analysis (SIRA) Unit to allow employees to research company data for the Scientific Logistics and Eurasian fields of study (source: declassified Defense Intelligence Agency document MDR - 0191 - 2008 dated 17 Sep 2012). In 1998 the company dedicated new laboratories for clinical research at the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis . </P> <P> In addition to internal research and development activities, Lilly is also involved in publicly funded research projects with other industrial and academic partners . One example in the area of non-clinical safety assessment is the InnoMed PredTox, a collaboration with pharmaceutical companies, research organizations, and the European Commission to improve the safety of drugs . In 2008 this consortium, which included Lilly S.A. (Switzerland), secured a € 8 million budget for a 40 - month project that was coordinated by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), an organization who represents the research - based pharmaceutical industry and biotech companies operating in Europe . In 2008 Lilly's activities included research projects within the framework of the Innovative Medicines Initiative, a public - private research initiative in Europe that is a joint effort of the EFPIA and the European Commission . </P> <P> The company's most important products introduced prior to World War II included insulin, which Lilly marketed as Iletin (Insulin, Lilly), Amytal, Merthiolate, ephedrine, and liver extracts . Introduced in 1923, Iletin (Insulin, Lilly) was Lilly's first commercial insulin product . In 2002 the company was the leading producer of products for those with diabetes . </P> <P> During World War II Lilly produced penicillins and other antibiotics . In addition to penicillin, other wartime production included "antimalarials," blood plasma, encephalitis vaccine, typhus and influenza vaccine, gas gangrene antitoxin, Merthiolate, and Iletin (Insulin, Lilly). </P>

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