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
Aminohippuric acid was given along with penicillin in order to prolong the time penicillin circulated in the blood. Because both penicillin and "para"-aminohippurate compete for the same transporter in the kidney, administering "para"-aminohippurate with penicillin decreased the clearance of penicillin from the body by the kidney, providing better antibacterial therapy. Transporters found in the kidney eliminate organic anions and cations from the blood by moving substances, in this case, drug metabolites, from blood into urine. In vultures, the NSAID diclofenac, which is extraordinarily toxic to vultures, interferes with the renal transport of uric acid via the PAH channel. p"K" = 3.83 Aminohippuric