In Jul. 1974, In the Division of Pharmaceutical Service at the University of Iowa began producing cGMP compliant clinical materials for client organizations outside of the University of Iowa umbrella. Pharmaceutical Service’s first client was the National Cancer Institute. In 1992 the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy formed a second contract pharmaceutical service unit, the Center for Advanced Drug Development.

The University of Iowa Pharmaceuticals (UIP) has one of the largest university-affiliated FDA-registered pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in the U.S.