A pharmaceutical of the century will be 100. A historical vignette on the introduction of acetylsalicylic acid to the market in 1899

Abstract

This article describes the historic roots of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) from the first experiments at 1800 until the introduction into the pharmaceutical market in 1899. In 1869, Hermann Kolbe enlightened the chemical structure of salicylic acid, which was used at that time as an analgetic and antipyretic drug. Because of the side effects, for example the irritation of the stomach, analytical chemists and pharmacologists searched for chemical modifications. In August 1897 Felix Hoffmann (1868-1946) was successful in acetylizing the salicylic acid to acetylsalicylic acid (ASA). Between 1897 and 1899 Kurt Witthauer (1865-1911) collected clinical data and experiences on the efficiency of ASA as an analgetic and antipyretic drug. In 1899 ASA was introduced into the pharmaceutical market as Aspirin and became soon one of the most successful drugs of its time. The indication exceeds analgesia in the mean time and to prophylaxis of myocardial ischaemia or cerebral stroke, among others.