Aspirin Patented

Aspirin or Acetlysalicylic acid is one of the most widely used global medicines. It is estimated that up to 120 billion tablets or 40,000 tonnes are consumed annually and it is on the World Health Organisation’s list of essential medicines. In 2016 it was the 38th most prescribed medication in the US

A precursor to aspirin is found in the leaves of the willow tree, used for its health effects for more than 2,400 years.

In 1853 chemist Charles Frédéric Gerhardt treated sodium salicylate with acetyl chloride to produce Acetylsalicylic acid for the first time and, in the following years, other chemists established the chemical structure and devised more efficient production methods.

In 1897 scientists at Beyer began studying a less irritating replacement for other salicylate medicines and on 6 March 1899 patented it under the name “Aspirin”

Aspirin is an effective analgesic (although considered inferior to ibuprofen) and is also used to treat other conditions including fever, pain, rheumatic fever and rheumatoid arthritis