Augmentin tablets

Empty packaging for 7 tablets of 375 mg Augmentin (each containing 250mg amoxicillin as trihydrate and 125mg clavulanic acid as potassium salt), and instruction leaflet made by GlaxoSmithKline, United Kingdom, 2012, expiry date February 2014

Martin Cole was a microbiologist, whose career at Beecham Research Laboratories focused on the hope of developing and using semi-synthetic penicillins, including cloxacillin and amoxicillin. He led the team which first discovered and named olivanic acids and clavulanic acid and then combined the latter with amoxicillin, to produce co-amoxiclav, brand name Augmentin.

In 1957, the team at Beecham Research Laboratories discovered that penicillin grown from mould has 6-aminopenicillanic acid. By tweaking its chemical structure, scientists created medicines to treat a wider range of bacterial infections, with fewer side effects. These are known as semi-synthetic penicillins.