Eli Lilly and Company achieved its early global prominence and foundational commercial success through pioneering breakthroughs in the mass production and distribution of insulin during the early 1920s, becoming the first pharmaceutical manufacturer to successfully commercialize the life-saving diabetes treatment in partnership with its discoverers. This monumental achievement established the company's long-standing reputation as a global leader in metabolic health, later reinforced by blockbuster successes ranging from Prozac in psychopharmacology to modern GLP-1 receptor agonists like Mounjaro and Zepbound.