Key Historic Events - The Pharmaceutical Industry

  • Period: to

    History Of Pharmaceutical Innovation

  • Tetanus Vaccine

    "Tetanus is a serious but rare condition caused by bacteria getting into a wound." (NHS, 2019) "French veterinarian Gaston Ramon (1886-1963) developed a means of inactivating antitoxins with formalin, creating toxoids that were used for immunization." (historyofvaccines.org, 2019)
  • Penicillin

    "Fleming experimented further and named the active substance penicillin. It was two other scientists however, Australian Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, a refugee from Nazi Germany, who developed penicillin further so that it could be produced as a drug. At first supplies of penicillin were very limited, but by the 1940s it was being mass-produced by the American drugs industry." (BBC, 2019)
  • Period: to

    Golden Era

  • Contraceptive Pill

    'While in her 80s, Sanger underwrote the research necessary to create the first human birth control pill. She raised $150,000 for the project.' (.ourbodiesourselves.org, 2019)
  • Warfarin

    "Work by Link led in 1948 to the synthesis of warfarin." It was the first blood thinner. (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 2019)
  • Clinical Trials Begin For Antiretroviral Drugs

  • FDA Approve Anti Retroviral Drugs

  • Obesity Medication - AKA Duromine

    "Duromine (Generic Phentermine)is a drug that suppresses appetite. Its exact mechanism of action is unknown. " (http://specialtypharma.biz, 2019) It was being produced by 2007.
  • GlaxoSmithKline Rapid Expansion

    GlaxoSmithKline announced a multi-million-pound expansion in Australia. This allowed them to utilise new technologies to improve profit margins. (au.gsk.com, 2019)
  • Zika Virus Vaccine

    Zika virus disease is mainly spread by mosquitoes. For most people, it's a very mild infection and is not harmful. (NHS, 2019) In mid-2016 the WHO developed a Zika virus vaccine target product profile as there is no vaccine. (www.who.int, 2015)