aspirin
...g the molecule. And so, in 1874, the industrial production of salicylic acid began. The synthetic product was offered at a tenth of the price of the naturally produced acid. However, because of its unpleasant taste, the patients were forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. Almost twenty years later in 1897, a young Bayer chemist, Dr Felix Hoffmann, was searching for an effective drug for rheumatism that could be better tolerated. He wanted to help his father - who had rheumatism but who had experienced a negative reaction to the medicine he had been prescribed. Hoffmann, therefore, tried to refine the salicylic acid to make it more tolerable. He ultimately succeeded in this task by acetylating, creating a compound of salicylic acid with acetic acid. Known as ASA for short, this was the first compound ever to be tested in clinical trials before registration. Two years later, on 1 February 1899, an application for the Aspirin trade name was submitted by Bayer and on 6 March, Aspirin was registered. This was the start of what has become a triumphant march through the pages of medical history and one which continues unabated today. Only last year, the US Food and Drug Administration suggested that the range of indications for acetylsalicylic acid be extended. This followed the results of the largest study ever carried out in medical history. According t...