Dr. William Erastus Upjohn graduated from the University of Michigan in 1875 and opened a medical practice in Hastings, Michigan.

At the time, most pills had hard coatings that often did not dissolve in the stomach. They simply passed through. Upjohn set to work to develop a better pill, and in 1885, at age 32, he patented his first "friable" pill. "Friable" does not mean that it could be fried, but that it could be crushed.

A year later, Upjohn and his brother Henry opened the Upjohn Pill and Granule Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Henry died a year later, but two other Upjohn brothers soon joined the company. The company introduced more pills, tablets, and a highly successful laxative called Phenolax.

After some family squabbles, W. E. Upjohn bought out his brothers. He hired a researcher named Frederick W. Heyl to develop new products. In 1920, Upjohn turned over the daily operations of his company to others and spent the majority of his time gardening until his death in 1932.

Today, the combined Pharmacia and Upjohn company has more than 30,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of more than $7 billion.