Patenting streptomycin

The major class of compounds used as growth promotants in non-ruminant (single stomached) animals, such as pig and poultry, is that of the antimicrobials. Growth responses to antimicrobials were reported as early as 1946 but these findings were overlooked at the time. However, several years later, when growth responses were obtained with chlor-tetracycline, streptomycin (29), succinyl sulfathiazole and 3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenylarsonic acid, the practical aspects of growth responses to antimicrobials became clear. Since then, hundreds of antimicrobial compounds that promote growth have been reported in the scientific literature and in patents and many have been approved for use commercially. 

Dr. Tishler published more than 100 scientific papers and is cited as an inventor on more than 100 United States patents. A partial list of research contributions include development of processes for the commercial production of vitamin B6, vitamin K, vitamin E, penicillin, streptomycin, and cortisone. 

The above generalization may fortunately be going out of style, in that more and more chemical patents cany specific titles and have claims that are informative even to amateur patent attorneys. An excellent example is the patent on streptomycin and process of preparation, which was assigned to the nonprofit Rutgers Research and Endowment Foundation (14). The specification scarcely differs from a scientific paper and the process claims constitute easily understandable summaries of essential steps in the manufacturing procedure. Claim 13, a product claim, cannot be surpassed for conciseness T3. Streptomycin. ... 

The first detailed description of the drying of products in spray form was mentioned in a patent of 1872 entitled Improvement of Drying and Concentration of Liquid Substances by Atomizing (2). However, this process found its first significant applications in the milk and detergent industries in the 1920 s (3). In current times, spray drying is utilized extensively in many aspects of our daily life from food products, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals to chemicals, fabrics, and electronics. Typical pharmaceutical examples include spray-dried enzymes (such as amylase, protease, lipase, and trypsin), antibiotics (such as sulfathiazole, streptomycin, penicillin, and tetracycline) and many other active pharmaceutical ingredients, vitamins (such as ascorbic acid and vitamin B12), and excipients for direct compression (such as lactose, mannitol, and microcrystalline cellulose). 

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