'ASPIRIN' IS REGISTERED AS A TRADEMARK BY BAYER

Today, The Grandma has woken up with a terrible headache and has decided to take an aspirin to try to calm it. She has thought about the history of this product that was registered by Bayer on a day like today in 1899.

Bayer AG is a German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of business include human and veterinary pharmaceuticals; consumer healthcare products; agricultural chemicals, seeds and biotechnology products.

Founded in Barmen in 1863 as a dyestuffs factory, Bayer's first and best-known product was aspirin.

In 1898 Bayer trademarked the name heroin for the drug diacetylmorphine and marketed it as a cough suppressant and non-addictive substitute for morphine until 1910.

Bayer also introduced phenobarbital; prontosil, the first widely used antibiotic and the subject of the 1939 Nobel Prize in Medicine; the antibiotic Cipro (ciprofloxacin); and Yaz (drospirenone) birth control pills.

In 1925, Bayer was one of six chemical companies that merged to form IG Farben, the world's largest chemical and pharmaceutical company. The Allied Control Council seized IG Farben after World War II, because of its role in the Nazi war effort and involvement in the Holocaust, which included using slave labour from concentration camps and the purchase of humans for dangerous medical testing. It was split into its six constituent companies in 1951, then split again into three: BASF, Bayer and Hoechst.

More information: Bayer

Bayer played a key role in the Wirtschaftswunder in post-war West Germany, quickly regaining its position as one of the world's largest chemical and pharmaceutical corporations.

In 2006, the company acquired Schering, in 2014, it acquired Merck & Co.'s consumer business, with brands such as Claritin, Coppertone and Dr. Scholl's, and in 2018, it acquired Monsanto, a leading producer of genetically engineered crops, for $63 billion. Bayer CropScience develops genetically modified crops and pesticides.

Aspirin, also known as acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), is a medication used to reduce pain, fever, or inflammation.

Specific inflammatory conditions which aspirin is used to treat include Kawasaki disease, pericarditis, and rheumatic fever.

Aspirin given shortly after a heart attack decreases the risk of death. Aspirin is also used long-term to help prevent further heart attacks, ischaemic strokes, and blood clots in people at high risk. It may also decrease the risk of certain types of cancer, particularly colorectal cancer. For pain or fever, effects typically begin within 30 minutes.

Aspirin is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and works similarly to other NSAIDs but also suppresses the normal functioning of platelets.

One common adverse effect is an upset stomach. More significant side effects include stomach ulcers, stomach bleeding, and worsening asthma. Bleeding risk is greater among those who are older, drink alcohol, take other NSAIDs, or are on other blood thinners.

Aspirin is not recommended in the last part of pregnancy. It is not generally recommended in children with infections because of the risk of Reye syndrome. High doses may result in ringing in the ears.

More information: The Pharmaceutical Journal

A precursor to aspirin found in leaves from the willow tree has been used for its health effects for at least 2,400 years.

In 1853, chemist Charles Frédéric Gerhardt treated the medicine sodium salicylate with acetyl chloride to produce acetylsalicylic acid for the first time. For the next fifty years, other chemists established the chemical structure and came up with more efficient production methods.

In 1897, scientists at the Bayer company began studying acetylsalicylic acid as a less-irritating replacement medication for common salicylate medicines.

By 1899, Bayer had named it Aspirin and sold it around the world. Aspirin's popularity grew over the first half of the twentieth century leading to competition between many brands and formulations. The word Aspirin was Bayer's brand name; however, their rights to the trademark were lost or sold in many countries.

Aspirin is one of the most widely used medications globally, with an estimated 40,000 tonnes (44,000 tons) (50 to 120 billion pills) consumed each year. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is available as a generic medication.

In 2018, it was the 40th most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 19 million prescriptions.

Bayer lost its trademark for Aspirin in the United States in actions taken between 1918 and 1921 because it had failed to use the name for its own product correctly and had for years allowed the use of Aspirin by other manufacturers without defending the intellectual property rights. Today, aspirin is a generic trademark in many countries.

Aspirin, with a capital A, remains a registered trademark of Bayer in Germany, Canada, Mexico, and in over 80 other countries, for acetylsalicylic acid in all markets, but using different packaging and physical aspects for each.

More information: Science History

Wine and cheese are ageless companions,
like aspirin and aches,
or June and moon,
or good people and noble ventures.

 

M. F. K. Fisher