Until quite recently, professionals in healthcare tended to look upon body and mind as strictly separated therapeutic entities. And we still don’t treat them a being equal. The notion that all phenomena are interconnected permeates to an increasing number of … Read more
We already went into promises of biotechnology and of biological preparations (a.o. in no.54, If chemistry and biology join forces). Biology makes less progress than hoped for, and its successes remain restricted to a limited number of therapeutic applications. Its … Read more
What does the future of pharma look like? So far, our task was easy, a description of history. Now things become much more difficult. There is a multitude of subjects on the agenda. Like the health gains that we jeopardized … Read more
An urgent (but often forgotten) issue in our society is that of the limits to healthcare. Its costs have been on the rise for quite some time now – just a bit, each year, but nevertheless. It will have to … Read more
The most important factor continuously propelling and changing society is technological development. Karl Marx would have been delighted to see that present-day society is still characterized by the relationship between base and superstructure as he proposed it, almost a century … Read more
The ‘70s of the past century mark a turning point in the control of toxic microorganisms. Researchers then discover that we will never finally be able to control them. That we will always find resistance on our path; and that … Read more
In 64 episodes, we painted a picture of mankind gradually getting the upper hand over infectious diseases with the aid of its chemical knowledge. And of the limits to this process, as we now run into the ‘new’ but very … Read more
Fungi are the producers of our most important antibiotics. But they can also be a burden, even a threat at times. Here we will not go into relatively innocent and easily curable conditions, mostly at or near the outside of … Read more
In our conflict with bacteria, we make much more use of tablets and powders than of vaccines. TBC treatment is an exception, all the more so because the tuberculosis bacterium is hard to control with antibiotics. In the case of … Read more
From times immemorial, mankind has swallowed or applied herbs as medicines. Herbal medicine has now moved into the background, maybe even become obsolete. But problems like resistance revive this branch of medicine. For instance, careful research into traditional Chinese medicine … Read more
Like garlic, cinnamon has a long history. It is figures in the history of trade and monopolies of spices. In the case of cinnamon, its use as a food additive and taste enhancer is more pronounced than that as a … Read more
From times immemorial, garlic has not just been looked upon as a food, but as a medicine as well. The well-known clove figures in each old medicinal text, as a cure for many conditions. How does this stand up under … Read more
In popular writings, recommendations for the use of vegetal medicines abound, as a cure for whatever condition. Often, regulation is absent. To keep truth and fiction apart is almost an impossible task. Germany is the country that generates the most … Read more
In the search for new antibiotics, the so-called ‘natural’ medicines come into the picture again. Ousted (temporarily?) by the rise of chemistry, that laid the foundation for an entirely new branch of medicine. Based on simple substances. Developed in the … Read more
From being almost forgotten to being the most abundant kind of microorganisms: phages. Moreover, harmless to people. It is simple to contain a bacterial infection with phages, if one has access to a phage that takes on the bacterium in … Read more
There are no leaders in the world of microorganisms. All creatures have friends and enemies. Some of them are actual living organisms, others are at the intersection of living and non-living matter. Alternatively, they are only active in a reciprocal … Read more
Right now, there is a lot of interest in all microorganisms in and on our bodies. Researchers have good look at the intestinal flora in particular. Recently, we wrote two articles on this subject, with the significant titles Who are … Read more
One quarter of the recently developed new medicines are biomedicines. It still isn’t clear where this may lead us in terms of new antibiotics. But our insight into nature’s fundamental processes grows by leaps and bounds. Again and again, this … Read more
After some time during a 100 year war, it may become unclear why and how it all started. Even the possible outcome may disappear out of sight. In the battle between chemistry and bacteria, chemistry seems to be losing. A … Read more
The serious search for new antibiotics starts only in 2015. Private and public initiatives collect funds for new research. Oxford University for instance, equips a new institute for research and action on resistance. The results seem to be positive. Between … Read more
In 2019, the American FDA approved just one antibiotic: lefamulin, a medicine against pneumonia. It is marketed under the name of Xenleta. The history of this medicine makes a telling story. It clearly shows the obstacles in the search for, … Read more
Over the past few decades, our knowledge of bacterial mechanisms intended to circumvent antibiotics, has increased a lot. We know down to the atom where the antibiotics attack the organism; and which defence mechanism the bacterium develops in order to … Read more
We can still contain the vast majority of infections with the existing collection of medicines. But we need to use them wisely. We also need to develop new medicines on the basis of the old themes. But that development has … Read more
From the start of this century onwards, it becomes clear that we need to develop new antibiotics. Even though we still can handle most infections, using the inventory at hand. Industry looks the other way for a long time. But … Read more
Does the era of antibiotics come to an end? Do we have to prepare ourselves for a time when infections will once again be one of the main death causes? We know how this comes about; resistance is the all-encompassing … Read more
The development of cholesterol lowering medicines is dominated by theory. Once more, the leading thought is that people can unlearn bad habits, and that we can cure all diseases with the proper medicines. But now in a negative form, befitting … Read more
In the period 1980-2000, pharmaceutical research needs new impulses. The 1950 guidelines are brought to mind again: – we can cure diseases using the proper medicines – we can unlearn bad habits. Although back then, people don’t do this consciously; … Read more
Thirty years after pharma found the way ahead, around 1980 its motor suddenly starts to falter. Interest in the medical profession comes to a low end in a number of areas. The US National Institute of Health (NIH) awards just … Read more
Veterinary use of antibiotics has become a major source of concern and annoyance. And this doesn’t even concern the use as a medicine. For that is dwarfed by the application as an additive to fodder. This may be the most … Read more
Of course, the successes of sulfas, pens, cefs and all comparable wonderful medicines inspired a lot of research into other applications. Primarily other kinds of infections have been researched a lot, like chronic infections. Likewise, cancer and dementia. And antibiotics … Read more
Mankind uses antibiotics quite incompetently and irresponsibly. We run into the danger of losing the effectiveness of these great inventions in the treatment of life-threatening infections, through resistance. We even did so within two, at most three generations. We call … Read more
Leprosy control has a long history. Once upon a time the disease was looked upon as a divine punishment, leading to social isolation. Later it developed into an infection that can be treated well, if discovered timely. Already in 1873, … Read more
Up to early 20th century, many doctors still believe that susceptibility to tuberculosis is determined genetically. Fierce discussions between professors and parliamentary inquests do not resolve the question: bacterial infection or hereditary condition. When Koch discovers in 1882 that the … Read more
The sulfas were a major success; and even more so, the pens and cefs. What next? We are still confronted with infections that cannot – or only ineffectively – be treated by the antibiotics at hand. We also want to … Read more
In industrial production of the major cephalosporins, we witness a development quite similar to that in the major penicillins. Using very clever chemistry, the 6-APA nucleus of penicillin is transformed into the 7-ADCA nucleus of cephalosporin. Among the products are … Read more
In 1972, almost 10 years after Ampicillin, Amoxicillin is introduced on the market. As it seems, to stay there forever. Both products are developed in the lab of the British company Beecham (now a subsidiary to GSK). Amox is by … Read more
In these golden years 1960-1980, semisynthetic antibiotics are produced with very advanced chemistry and technology, in the eyes of contemporaries. But from today’s point of view, many primitive aspects are still present. In particular in comparison with the elder brother, … Read more
It seems as if medical science grows wings, judging by the pace of subsequent successes. Pharmacologists increasingly know how chemical structure determines the action of the medicine. There are signs of resistance to wonder drugs like natural penicillins and cephalosporins; … Read more
In the tumultuous events in the medical realm in the second half of the past century, we witness a remarkable change: the position of high esteem of the individual doctor is being substituted by other professionals. The pole position is … Read more
There are four developments that mark the year 1950 as a turning point in medical history: (1) the overwhelming success of the penicillins, and additionally the cephalosporins and streptomycins, (2) the discovery that life becomes bearable to rheumatic patients through … Read more
Often, people remark that discovery and development of antibiotics are quite unique. This holds true both for the sulfas and for penicillins and cephalosporins. There is a multitude of strange events and chance developments. And yet, we need to announce … Read more
Penicillin’s successes trigger a major search for microorganisms with antibacterial action. Are there any more productive penicillin producing mould varieties out there? Yes, there are. The Italian pharmacologist Giuseppe Brotzu discovers the mould Cephalosporium Acremonium in a sewage outfall at … Read more
Quite admirable, the fast development of a penicillin of their own at the Gist. And subsequent developments are at least as impressive. In November 1945 already, the Dutch government poses the question if the Netherlands can become self-supportive. And they … Read more
At the Gist, there are three main characters involved in the successful development of antibiotics. Professor Kluyver as an advisor. François Gerard Waller as the COO. And doctor Andreas Querido. Querido (1922) is by far the youngest. He has been … Read more
When the Oxford team books its first successes, the Germans already occupy the Netherlands for three months. From 1943 onwards, the allies issue a ban on publications on penicillin. And yet, in November 1945 the Nederlandse Gist- en Spiritusfabriek in … Read more
In 1943, the allies issue an embargo on all news and publications on penicillin. The subject is declared to be a military secret. But then, the rest of the world has already taken notice of the jubilant press releases in … Read more
The first and most spectacular period in the early development of penicillin now draws to an end. That the events coincided with the Second World War, lent them additional weight. We now end these events with a peak into the … Read more
Formulae are of the essence to chemistry. We make an attempt to tell the story of chemistry versus bacteria in words only; with the occasional illustration. This episode is packed with formulae, with the beta lactam structure as the essence. … Read more
On August 27, 1942, the Times publishes an editorial on penicillin’s wonderful achievements. The paper urges government to take at hand industrial production as soon as possible. And now happens what Florey had feared: a lot of interest in the … Read more
By the end of 1941, Heatley starts working at Merck. He quite regularly exchanges letters with Florey. And Florey receives an enormous box from the United States. He is sure that it will contain the long-awaited kilo of penicillin. But … Read more