Natural product to modern discovery of their active ingredients and eventually to the development of new drugs. A large number of currently prescribed drugs have been either directly derived from or inspired by natural products. A few representative examples are listed below. Some of the oldest natural product based drugs are analgesics. The bark of the willow tree has been known from antiquity to have pain relieving properties. This is due to presence of the natural product salicin which in turn may be hydrolyzed into salicylic acid. A synthetic derivative acetylsalicylic acid better known as aspirin is a widely used pain reliever.
Sterling Drug Sterling Drug Sterling Drug was an American global pharmaceutical company, known as Sterling-Winthrop, Inc. after the merger with Winthrop-Stearns Inc. (which resulted from the merger of "Winthrop Chemical Company Inc." and "Frederick Stearns & Company"). It was formerly known as "Sterling Winthrop Pharmaceuticals", whose primary product lines included diagnostic imaging agents, hormonal products, cardiovascular products, analgesics, antihistamines and muscle relaxants. Chemical compounds produced by this company were often known by their manufacturing code which consisted of the abbreviation WIN (for Winthrop) followed by a number. For example, WIN 18,320 was nalidixic acid, the first quinolone antibiotic. The Company was established