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The Upjohn Company was an American pharmaceutical manufacturing firm (est. 1886) in Hastings, Michigan, by Dr. William E. Upjohn, an 1875 graduate of the University of Michigan medical school. The company was originally formed to make friable pills, specifically designed to crush easily, and thus be easier for patients to digest. Upjohn initially marketed the pills to doctors by sending them a wooden plank along with a rival’s pill and one of Upjohn’s, with instructions to try to hammer the pills into the plank.
Subsequently, Upjohn (together with Pharmacia) biochemically converted cortisone into the more potent steroid prednisone via bacterial fermentation. In Chemistry, the company is known for the development of the Upjohn dihydroxylation by V. VanRheenen, R. C. Kelly, and D. Y. Cha in 1976.) Upjohn's best known drugs before its acquisition by Pfizer were Alprazolam, Triazolam, Ibuprofen, Lincomycin, and Minoxidil.
In 1995, Upjohn merged with Pharmacia AB to form Pharmacia & Upjohn. The company was owned by Pfizer from 2002 until 2020.
In 2015, Pfizer resurrected the Upjohn brand name for a division which manufactures and licenses drugs with patents that have expired. Pfizer planned to divest itself of this business in 2020.
In July 2019, Pfizer announced plans to merge Upjohn with Mylan. The merger was expected to close in the first half of 2020, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and finally completed in November 2020. The resultant entity was named Viatris.
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