The company was originally formed to make friable pills, specifically designed to crush easily, and thus be easier for patients to digest.

In 1952, two Upjohn biochemists, Dury Peterson and Herb Murray, announced that they had invented a new method by fermenting the steroid progesterone with a common mold of the genus Rhizopus.

Over the next several years, a group of chemists headed by John Hogg developed a process for preparing cortisone from the soybean sterol stigmasterol.

[2] Subsequently, Upjohn (together with Schering) biochemically converted cortisone into the more potent steroid prednisone via bacterial fermentation.

In 2015, Pfizer resurrected the Upjohn brand name for a division which manufactures and licenses drugs with patents that have expired.