Grünenthal prohibited the research and manufacture of penicillin by German companies. When the ban was lifted, Grünenthal was the first company to introduce penicillin in the postwar period into the German market. This investment achieved a big financial boost for the company. Chemie Grünenthal synthesized thalidomide in 1954 and acquired a 20-year patent. Soon after obtaining a patent in April 1954, the company started clinical trials, and as early as November 1956, marketed the drug for the treatment of respiratory infections under the trade name Grippex, a combination drug that contained thalidomide, quinine, vitamin C, phenacetin, and acetylsalicylic acid. Researchers at
Dimercaptosuccinic acid with arsenic and mercury was first shown by I. Okonishnikova in 1962. In 1984, the now-defunct Bock Pharmaceutical Company requested the FDA grant approval for orphan drug status under the trade name Chemet and the FDA approved of this in 1991, providing exclusivity until 1998 which was conveyed to the successor Sanofi in 1996. Dimercaptosuccinic acid Dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA), also called succimer, is a medication used to treat lead, mercury, and arsenic poisoning. When radiolabeled with technetium-99m, it is used in a number of types of diagnostic testing. It is taken by mouth for 19 days. More than two weeks