First known as Milan, the company starts doing business in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. U.S. Army chums, Milan "Mike" Puskar and Don Panoz flip a coin to see who will name the business and who will be the company’s first president. They start distributing products to doctors and chemists from an old Pontiac Bonneville.

We move to Morgantown, West Virginia in 1965 and begin manufacturing various over-the-counter products the next year. Success leads to a decision to switch production to generic pharmaceuticals.

After receiving approval from the FDA to manufacture our first medicine, Penicillin G, we broaden our product line to include other generic antibiotics as well as analgesics, antihistamines, diuretics and tranquillisers. We market these to large drug companies, chemist chains and mail-order drug providers, all for resale under the customers’ own labels.

Parke-Davis is the first major pharmaceutical company to purchase and privately label Milan products. We also introduce a new logo—the letter “M” formed by three test tubes suggests scientific leadership and teamwork.

We change the spelling of Mylan to stand out at the bottom of the list of stocks that begin with the letter "M."

To fuel expansion, Mylan goes public.

By the end of the 1970s, we produce five of the 10 most prescribed generic medicines—all five are antibiotics.

Mike Puskar, who had left the company, returns as president. He and chairman and CEO Roy McKnight lead Mylan through a period of unprecedented growth.

Mike Puskar helps establish the Generic Pharmaceutical Industry Association, GPIA, to give the industry a voice. During the next few years, GPIA lobbies for the Hatch-Waxman Act, which is passed in 1984.

Our first branded product approval, for MAXZIDE® TABLETS (triamterene and hydrocholorothiazide tablets, US), is a first for a generics company.

We see irregularities in how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acts on ANDAs, abbreviated new drug applications. Our investigation helps expose fraudulent practices and corruption in the industry. This results in reform of the FDA’s review procedures for generic drugs and new precautions to help ensure consumer safety.

The market is becoming increasingly competitive as demand for high quality, affordable medication rises.

• In 1993, we acquire Bertek Inc., an innovator of transdermal medicine systems. Bertek is later renamed Mylan Technologies Inc., or MTI
• In 1996, Mylan adds unit dose packaging with the acquisition of UDL, the largest pharmaceutical unit dose packaging company in the United States
• At the same time, generic use rises to about 47%, and we continue to capture market share while discontinuing private labelling and growing our own “Mylan” label

Mike Puskar becomes chairman and CEO.

We become the most-dispensed line of brand and generic pharmaceuticals in the U.S.

Soon after entering our fifth decade, we declare a turnover of $1 billion.

Robert J. Coury is elected to the board of directors and becomes vice chairman and CEO.

In 2004, Mylan was added to the S&P 500 and shipped eleven billion doses, more than any other pharmaceutical company.

In the U.S., the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act and an ageing Medicare population fuel generic use, which reaches 78% by the end of the decade. We are ready, having put in place a plan to expand through organic growth and acquisitions from a mid-size company into a global leader.

Executive Heather Bresch testifies before the U.S. Senate’s Special Committee on Ageing regarding issues that put billions of dollars of consumer healthcare savings at risk.

We become a global company by acquiring a controlling interest in Matrix Laboratories, a supplier of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), and by purchasing Merck KGaA’s generics business.

• Matrix has low-cost manufacturing facilities in India and China and marketing capabilities in Western Europe and Africa. Matrix gives us unprecedented control over our supply chain and expands our dosage forms and therapeutic categories. This includes the addition of antiretroviral medicines for people living with HIV/AIDS
• Merck KGaA’s generic business sells products in more than 90 countries. Combining forces provides massive global scale, expands our product portfolio and provides entry into new commercial markets
• With the acquisition of Merck KGaA generic business, we acquire the rights to EpiPen®(adrenaline) Auto-Injector, the world's No. 1 dispensed adrenaline auto-injector*

*IMS data, 1987-2012

We declare a turnover of $5 billion.

• Mike Puskar retires and Robert J. Coury is named chairman of the board.
• We launch next-generation EpiPen® Auto-Injector (adrenaline).
• Our first global product, LANSOPRAZOLE (lansoprazole capsule, delayed release pellets), launches.
• Lopinavir/Ritonavir, an innovative heat-stable ARV treatment, is created for use in certain countries where refrigeration isn't readily available.
• Robert J. Coury and former President Bill Clinton announce an agreement for better, more affordable treatment for HIV/AIDS patients in the developing world.
• Mylan is appointed to the Fortune 500 list.

Our acquisition of Bioniche Pharma expands our injectable portfolio with products for use in orthopaedics, rheumatology, urology and dermatology.

• Mylan celebrates 50 years of unconventional success.
• We acquire Pfizer’s respiratory delivery platform.

Mylan, led by Heather Bresch, champions the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), which holds both foreign and domestic manufacturers to one global quality standard. The Act includes the Generic Drug User Fee Act (GDUFA). Together, FDASIA and GDUFA aim to speed up access to safe and effective generic medicines while providing more visibility into how medicines and their ingredients are manufactured and shipped around the world.

We introduce a new and expanded management structure to help fuel our continued growth and success. Robert J. Coury transitions into the role of executive chairman of the board. Heather Bresch is promoted to CEO; Rajiv Malik is promoted to president.

• We launch commercial operations in India and team up with Pfizer in Japan
• Mylan is selected as a supplier to India’s National AIDS Control Organization and is named the leading antiretroviral supplier to the South African National Department of Health
• Nearly 40% of patients receiving treatment in developing countries are using a Mylan product

Operations begin at our new Robert J. Coury Global Centre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a 280,000-square-foot, five-story innovative workspace.

• Our antiretroviral portfolio launches in South Africa
• EpiPen®(adrenaline) Auto-Injector celebrates 25 years as the No. 1 prescribed adrenaline auto-injector in the U.S.*
• Mylan acquires Agila Specialties creating a global injectables leader

*IMS data, 1987-2012

Mylan acquires Abbott's non-U.S. developed markets specialty and branded generics business.