Aspirin
In 1899, Bayer chemist Felix Hoffmann was working on a painkiller that wouldn’t irritate the stomach like pure salicylic acid did. He acetylated it to form acetylsalicylic acid.
They named it Aspirin using:
- A for “acetyl”
- Spir from Spiraea ulmaria, the meadowsweet plant rich in salicylates
- In, a common suffix for drugs at the time
Ironically, Bayer lost the trademark after WWI as part of war reparations, andaspirin became generic.
Morphine
In the early 1800s, German pharmacist Friedrich Serturner isolated the active ingredient in opium. It caused drosiness and dream-like states. He named it morphium after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams.
He actually tested it on himself and his friends.. risky but effective. Morphine became one of the first true pharmaceutical drugs, especially during the Civil War and WW I.
Penicillin
Discovered by accident in 1928 by Alexander Fleming, the mold that killed bacteria was from the genus Penicillium, named after the Latin word for paintbrush, referring to the mold’s microscopic appearance.
So “penicillin” simply means “from penicillium.” It wasn’t until the 1940s that it was mass-produced and became the miracle drug of WWII.
WARFARIN
Originally developed as a rat poison, Warfarin comes from:
- WARF: Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
- -arin: from coumarin, a compound in spoiled sweet clover that caused cattle bleeding
Later, doctors discovered its anticoagulant effect could be used in humans. It’s now widely used in patients with atrial fibrillation and DVT.
LASIX
One of the best examples of a clever brand name: Lasix (furosemide) is a diuretic that typically lasts six hours. So:
La-six = lasts six.