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Emil von Behring, born Emil Adolf Behring, was a German physiologist who received the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the first one awarded in that field, for his discovery of a diphtheria antitoxin. He was widely known as a "saviour of children," as diphtheria used to be a major cause of child death. His work with the disease, as well as tetanus, has come to bring him most of his fame and acknowledgment. He was honored with Prussian nobility in 1901, henceforth being known by the surname "von Behring."
Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Signs and symptoms may vary from mild to severe. They usually start two to five days after exposure. Symptoms often come on fairly gradually, beginning with a sore throat and fever. In severe cases, a grey or white patch develops in the throat. This can block the airway and create a barking cough as in croup. The neck may swell in part due to enlarged lymph nodes. A form of diphtheria which involves the skin, eyes or genitals also exists. Complications may include myocarditis, inflammation of nerves, kidney problems, and bleeding problems due to low levels of platelets. Myocarditis may result in an abnormal heart rate and inflammation of the nerves may result in paralysis.
An exotoxin is a toxin secreted by bacteria. An exotoxin can cause damage to the host by destroying cells or disrupting normal cellular metabolism. They are highly potent and can cause major damage to the host. Exotoxins may be secreted, or, similar to endotoxins, may be released during lysis of the cell. Gram negative pathogens may secrete outer membrane vesicles containing lipopolysaccharide endotoxin and some virulence proteins in the bounding membrane along with some other toxins as intra-vesicular contents, thus adding a previously unforeseen dimension to the well-known eukaryote process of membrane vesicle trafficking, which is quite active at the host-pathogen interface.
The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients, with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate the symptoms. Pharmaceutical companies may deal in generic or brand medications and medical devices. They are subject to a variety of laws and regulations that govern the patenting, testing, safety, efficacy and marketing of drugs.
Pierre Paul Émile Roux FRS was a French physician, bacteriologist and immunologist. Roux was one of the closest collaborators of Louis Pasteur (1822–1895), a co-founder of the Pasteur Institute, and responsible for the institute's production of the anti-diphtheria serum, the first effective therapy for this disease. Additionally, he investigated cholera, chicken-cholera, rabies, and tuberculosis. Roux is regarded as a founder of the field of immunology.
Gunnar Kaasen was a Norwegian-born musher who delivered a cylinder containing 300,000 units of diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, Alaska, in 1925, as the last leg of a dog sled relay that saved the U.S. city from an epidemic.
Parke-Davis is a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Although Parke, Davis & Co. is no longer an independent corporation, it was once America's oldest and largest drug maker, and played an important role in medical history. Warner-Lambert acquired Parke-Davis in 1970, which in turn was acquired by Pfizer in 2000.
Cutter Laboratories was a family-owned pharmaceutical company located in Berkeley, California, founded by Edward Ahern Cutter in 1897. Cutter's early products included anthrax vaccine, hog cholera virus, and anti-hog cholera serum—and eventually a hog cholera vaccine. The hog cholera vaccine was the first tissue culture vaccine, human or veterinary, ever produced. The company expanded considerably during World War II as a consequence of government contracts for blood plasma and penicillin. After Edward Cutter's death, his three sons—Dr. Robert K. Cutter (president), Edward "Ted" A. Cutter, Jr. (vice-president), and Frederick A. Cutter—ran the company. In the next generation Robert's son David followed his father as president of the company. The Bayer pharmaceutical company bought Cutter Laboratories in 1974.
Argyrol is the trade name for an antiseptic containing compounded solutions of mild silver protein, each varying in strength. Argyrol is synonymous with the chemical Mild Silver Protein (MSP). It was manufactured in the chemical industry at a pharmaceutical grade, using denatured pharmaceutical-grade protein—for ophthalmic application—and elemental silver. This combination produces the silver protein molecule. Widely publicized for its value to resolve gonorrhea infections, it prevents gonorrheal blindness and other pathogenic infections in the eyes of newborn infants. Albert C. Barnes developed and commercialised Argyrol as a prevention technology for use on mucous membranes to resolve localized infections.
The history of animal testing goes back to the writings of the Ancient Greeks in the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, with Aristotle and Erasistratus one of the first documented to perform experiments on animals. Galen, a physician in 2nd-century Rome, dissected pigs and goats, and is known as the "Father of Vivisection." Avenzoar, an Arabic physician in 12th-century Moorish Spain who also practiced dissection, introduced animal testing as an experimental method of testing surgical procedures before applying them to human patients. Although the exact purpose of the procedure was unclear, a Neolithic surgeon performed trepanation on a cow in 3400-3000 BCE. This is the earliest known surgery to have been performed on an animal, and it is possible that the procedure was done on a dead cow in order for the surgeon to practice their skills.
Passive immunity is the transfer of active humoral immunity of ready-made antibodies. Passive immunity can occur naturally, when maternal antibodies are transferred to the fetus through the placenta, and it can also be induced artificially, when high levels of antibodies specific to a pathogen or toxin are transferred to non-immune persons through blood products that contain antibodies, such as in immunoglobulin therapy or antiserum therapy. Passive immunization is used when there is a high risk of infection and insufficient time for the body to develop its own immune response, or to reduce the symptoms of ongoing or immunosuppressive diseases. Passive immunization can be provided when people cannot synthesize antibodies, and when they have been exposed to a disease that they do not have immunity against.
Serum Institute of India (SII) is an Indian biotechnology and pharmaceuticals company. It is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer. It is located in the city of Pune, Maharashtra, India, and was founded by Cyrus Poonawalla in 1966. The company is a subsidiary of the holding company Poonawalla Investment and Industries.
Dr. John Gerald "Gerry" FitzGerald was a Canadian physician and public health specialist who was instrumental in the control of diphtheria, first by producing and freely distributing antitoxin, and then in 1924 by using mass production to enable widespread use of the vaccine devised by Gaston Ramon.
Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as John Wyeth and Brother. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth in 2002. Its headquarters moved to Collegeville, Pennsylvania and Madison, New Jersey, before they were consolidated with Pfizer's in New York City after the 2009 merger. Most of Wyeth's pharmaceutical assets were acquired by Pfizer in 2009, while its infant and maternal nutrition business was acquired by Nestlé in 2012.
Merck & Co., Inc., d.b.a. Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) outside the United States and Canada, is an American multinational pharmaceutical company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Merck is incorporated in New Jersey.
Dalla Lana School of Public Health is the school of public health at the University of Toronto. It was founded in 1927, and was home for 50 years to Connaught Laboratories, a manufacturer of vaccines, insulin, and many other pharmaceutical products. Having grown to be the largest cluster of public health scholars in Canada, the school was revitalized in 2008 with the support of a major gift from the Dalla Lana family.
The Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute is an Iranian pharmaceutical company. It is located in the Hessarak district in Karaj, Iran. The Institute was built as a national center with the purpose of countering epidemics in domestic animals during Reza Shah era. Further departments were installed, including those dedicated to human medicines. In modern years, the Institute has focused primarily on nanomedicine and biotechnology.
The Department of Medical Microbiology, formerly known as the Department of Bacteriology or the Institute of Bacteriology, was a research department of the pharmaceutical company Schering AG.
The Connaught Medical Research Laboratories was a non-commercial public health entity established by Dr. John G. FitzGerald in 1914 in Toronto to produce the diphtheria antitoxin. Contemporaneously, the institution was likened to the Pasteur Institutes in France and Belgium and the Lister Institute in London. It expanded significantly after the discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921, manufacturing and distributing insulin at cost in Canada and overseas. Its non-commercial mandate mediated commercial interests and kept the medication accessible. In the 1930s, methodological advances at Connaught updated the international standard for insulin production.
H. Fred Clark was an American veterinarian, medical scientist, and social activist. He served as a research professior of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine and at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as holding the position of adjunct professor at the Wistar Institute. He is recognized for his work with Paul Offit and Stanley Plotkin developing the rotavirus vaccine RotaTeq. For this work, Clark, Offit, and Plotkin received the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Gold Medal in 2006. He received a degree in veterinary medicine from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Buffalo.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Galambos, Louis (Aug 13, 1997). Networks of Innovation: Vaccine Development at Merck, Sharp and Dohme, and Mulford, 1895-1995. Cambridge University Press.
- ↑ "H. K. Mulford dies," American Druggist 96, 1937, p. 112
- 1 2 3 O'Neill, Robert F. (27 Dec 1992). "Recalling The Heyday Of Pioneering Drug Firm The H. K. Mulford Co. Of Glenolden Produced A Breakthrough Diphtheria Antitoxin". philly.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 21 Oct 2019.
- ↑ "San Francisco Branch, H. K. Mulford Company". California State Journal of Medicine. 7 (4): 150. April 1909. PMC 1652892 . PMID 18734638.
