History
Streptomycin was first isolated on October 19, 1943, by Albert Schatz, a graduate student, in the laboratory of Selman Abraham Waksman at Rutgers University. Dr. Waksman and his laboratory staff discovered several antibiotics, including actinomycin, clavacin, streptothricin, streptomycin, grisein, neomycin, fradicin, candicidin, and candidin. Of these, streptomycin and neomycin found extensive application in the treatment of numerous infectious diseases. Streptomycin was the first antibiotic that could be used to cure the disease tuberculosis (TB). Early production of the drug was dominated by Merck & Co. under George W. Merck.
The first randomized trial of streptomycin against pulmonary tuberculosis was carried out in 1946–1947 by the MRC Tuberculosis Research Unit under the chairmanship of Sir Geoffrey Marshall (1887–1982). The trial was both double-blind and placebo-controlled. It is widely accepted to have been the first randomised curative trial.
Results showed efficacy against TB, albeit with minor toxicity and acquired bacterial resistance to the drug.
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