Cardboard box for "Driset*" dried Penicillin sodium salt, by Wyeth Incorporated, American

The antibiotic penicillin began clinical trials in the early 1940s and was found to be successful against a wide range of infections and diseases that previously could not be treated easily, such as blood poisoning and syphilis. As the demand grew, especially among medics treating soldiers during the Second World War, twenty-two pharmaceutical companies, such as Wyeth who made ‘Driset’ penicillin, were selected by the United States to manufacture the drug.