Sealed glass tube of Arsphenamine, ‘Salvarsan 606’, Europe, 1910 -1930

Sealed glass tube of Salvarsan 606 Dioxy diamino arseno benzol aniline arsanlic acid. Labelled 'Axt - salvarsan'. Prepared according to Ehrlich's original method

This yellow powder is known today as Arsphenamine. It was a revolutionary drug that came onto the market in 1910 to treat the sexually transmitted infection (STI), syphilis. It was the first truly effective anti-syphillitic drug as previous mercury-based cures often did more harm than good. It was discovered by German scientist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) and was originally known as Salvarsan 606.

This sealed glass tube contains a sample of Salvarsan 606 prepared to Ehrlich’s original method. It is shown with an illustration of its chemical make-up. Salvarsan 606 is an arsenic-based compound and was known as 606 because it was the 606th compound tested in Ehrlich’s laboratories. The name Salvarsan was chosen before going into large-scale manufacture by Hoechst Chemical Works in Germany.