Penicillin: The Old/New Wonder Drug

Although it was discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, a microbiologist at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, penicillin languished for more than a decade before its importance was noticed. As its antimicrobial properties became more apparent, large enough quantities were produced for clinical trials through the efforts of Florey et al. [1]. Then came World War II, and the U.S. government became intensely interested in penicillin because, in previous wars, soldiers were more likely to die from wound infections than from the wounds themselves. The government was anxious for anything that would reduce American casualties, and it made penicillin production a priority. More than 20 companies were encouraged to join the effort to produce sufficient quantities of penicillin for the military. Production ramped up so much that by the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, companies were producing 100 billion units of penicillin per month.