Penicillin

In 1889, a pupil of Louis Pasteur named Paul Vuillemin coined the term 'antibiosis' to define a process by which life could be used to destroy life.

French medical student Ernest Duchesne first took note of bacteria in 1896, laying the groundwork for the discovery of penicillin.

On September 28, 1928, Dr. Fleming accidentally discovered penicillin, the world's first antibiotic, which revolutionized medicine by killing bacteria.

Alexander Fleming coined the name 'penicillin' on 7 March 1929 for the substance derived from a plant of the genus Penicillium, after identifying its bacterial inhibiting properties.

In 1930, Dr. Cecil George Paine successfully cured his first patient using penicillin for the treatment of neonatal infections. Despite limited success rates, this marked a significant milestone in the early use of penicillin in medical treatments.

In 1935, Alexander Fleming gifted a sample of penicillium mould to a colleague at St Marys Hospital in London. This act eventually led to the discovery of penicillin.

In 1937, Howard Florey and Ernst Chain discovered Alexander Fleming's research on penicillin and initiated the 'Penicillin Project' with a team of scientists.

In 1938, Florey and his colleagues began their landmark work on unraveling the science behind penicillin's antibacterial action after coming across Fleming's paper on the penicillium mold.

Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and their colleagues at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at Oxford University started working on purifying and studying the chemistry of penicillin in 1939 amidst challenging wartime conditions. They transformed penicillin from a laboratory curiosity into a crucial life-saving drug through extensive research and experimentation.

On May 25, 1940, Florey injected four mice with a penicillin solution after infecting them with streptococcus. The treated mice survived, marking a significant breakthrough in penicillin's effectiveness.

Alexander Fleming visited the Oxford team led by Florey and Chain on September 2, 1940. Despite being shown the production, extraction, and testing laboratories, Fleming did not comment or congratulate them, leading to suspicions that he was trying to claim credit for their work.

On October 15, 1940, the first doses of penicillin were administered to two patients, Aaron Alston and Charles Aronson, at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. They became the first individuals to receive penicillin treatment in the United States.

On December 22, 1940, Heatley collected the first 174 vessels for penicillin production. These vessels were later seeded with spores to start the penicillin production process.

On January 17, 1941, Charles Fletcher intravenously injected Elva Akers, an Oxford woman dying from cancer, with 100 mg of penicillin to test its toxicity. Akers experienced a brief rise in temperature, but no other adverse effects were observed.

On February 12, 1941, Albert Alexander, a policeman, became the first person to receive Oxford penicillin after developing a life-threatening infection from a rose scratch. Despite initial success, the limited drug supply led to his unfortunate death.

On May 5, 1941, the Columbia University team presented the results of their penicillin treatment of four patients at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Investigation in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The presentation generated significant public interest and was reported in The New York Times.

Due to the strain of World War II on Great Britain's resources, British scientists sought help in the United States for continuing clinical trials on penicillin. Dr. Florey and Dr. Norman Heatley arrived in Peoria, Illinois with a small amount of penicillin on July 9, 1941.

On September 11, 1941, Kembel, Bishop and Company delivered the first batch of 910 litres of commercial penicillin. This marked a significant milestone in the mass production of penicillin for medical use.

In October 1941, a meeting was held in Washington, D.C. by Richards to discuss company and government research and to strategize a collaborative research program for penicillin production.

On November 26, 1941, Andrew J. Moyer and Dr. Heatley achieved a significant milestone by increasing the yield of penicillin tenfold at Peoria Lab. This breakthrough paved the way for further advancements in penicillin production.

On March 5, 1942, penicillin production started at Kemball, Bishop & Co.'s Bromley-by-Bow plant in the UK, marking a significant milestone in the country's efforts.

On March 27, 1943, Ethel and Howard Florey published the results of clinical trials of penicillin in The Lancet, reporting the treatment of 187 cases of sepsis with penicillin. These results led to the establishment of the Penicillin Committee by the British War Cabinet.

On April 5, 1943, the British War Cabinet set up the Penicillin Committee to oversee the mass production of penicillin. The committee included key figures such as Alexander Fleming, Howard Florey, and representatives from pharmaceutical companies.

The War Production Board (WPB) placed penicillin under a wartime allocation system on July 16, 1943, designating all supplies for use by the armed forces and the Public Health Service.

Pfizer opened a pilot plant with a 7,600-litre fermentor in August 1943, delivering the first penicillin liquor from it on 27 August. This marked a significant milestone in the mass production of penicillin, with the plant soon becoming a major producer of the antibiotic.

Dr. Chester Keefer, Chairman of the National Research Council's Committee on Chemotherapy, was responsible for rationing supplies of penicillin for civilian use during World War II. He had to restrict its use to cases where other treatments had failed and collect detailed clinical information to understand its potential and limitations.

On December 6, 1943, the Reich Health Ministry ordered the medical community in Germany to conduct research into penicillin and other antibiotics.

On December 7, 1943, the sharing of information related to penicillin production among major pharmaceutical companies was legalized, allowing collaboration and coordination for the mass production of penicillin.

On March 1, 1944, Pfizer inaugurated the initial commercial facility for large-scale production of penicillin using submerged culture in Brooklyn, New York. This marked a significant milestone in the mass production of the life-saving antibiotic.

Penicillin was made available in quantity to treat Allied soldiers wounded on D-Day, thanks to the combined efforts of many people.

As of March 15, 1945, the American government lifted all restrictions on penicillin availability, making it accessible through regular channels and available in local pharmacies for consumers.

On June 1, 1946, penicillin was first made available for sale to the general public in the United Kingdom as a prescription-only drug, meeting civilian needs after the war.

In 1947, four years after the mass production of penicillin began, resistant microbes such as Staphylococcus aureus emerged. Staphylococcus aureus, usually harmless, can produce toxins leading to illnesses like pneumonia or toxic shock syndrome if left unchecked.

Dr. Andrew J. Moyer was granted a patent for a method of the mass production of penicillin on May 25, 1948.

In 1949, the annual production of penicillin in the United States reached 133,229 billion units, and the price had significantly dropped from twenty dollars per 100,000 units in 1943 to less than ten cents.

In 1957, American chemist John C. Sheehan completed the first chemical synthesis of penicillin at MIT, contributing to the development of new and improved drugs.

Beecham Research Laboratories developed Ampicillin, the first orally effective semisynthetic penicillin with broad-spectrum activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

Dorothy Hodgkin determined the chemical structure of penicillin, leading to the development of more potent semisynthetic penicillins effective against a wider range of bacteria.

In 1990, Oxford University awarded Heatley the first honorary doctorate of medicine in its 800-year history, making up for the Nobel committee's oversight.

The Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum in London, U.K. was designated as an International Historic Chemical Landmark on November 19, 1999. This recognition also extended to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Ill., and five American pharmaceutical companies involved in penicillin production research during WWII.

The discovery of penicillin, one of the world’s first antibiotics, revolutionized medicine by providing doctors with a powerful tool to cure deadly infectious diseases.