The changing nature of animal therapeutics

Abstract

Extract

Veterinarians who began practising before the second world war had available a vast array of drugs, including some synthetic antibacterials, but medicines were mostly of natural origin and had to be correctly treated, prepared, formulated and packaged for use. The research findings of Fleming, Florey, Selye and others who discovered the biological activity of whole new families of chemicals, changed the face of medicine seemingly within a decade or two, and this dramatic shift, from what was essentially materia medica to the new pharmacology, resulted in the rapid development of the pharmaceutical industry. Some companies just expanded from their powders and potions style of business whereas others, strong in chemical engineering, became involved in vaccine and antibiotic production through the application of fermentation technology.