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
Technetium (99mTc) medronic acid Technetium (99mTc) medronic acid Technetium (Tc) medronic acid (MDP) is a pharmaceutical product used in nuclear medicine to localize bone metastases as well as other diseases that can alter the natural turn-over in the bone by bone scintigraphy. The drug is a complex of medronic acid, the simplest bisphosphonate, with technetium-99m (Tc), a radionuclide that emits gamma rays. The exact structure of the complex is not known. Tc-MDP must be prepared in a radiopharmacy. It is usually supplied as a "cold kit" to which radioactive Tc from a generator is added. Kit composition may vary between suppliers, but contents typically