HISTORY OF

PHARMACY

Sriwidodo, 2014

At the Begining...
Ancient man learned from instinct,
from observation of birds and
beasts. Cool water, a leaf, dirt, or
mud was his first soothing
application. By trial, he learned
which served him best. Eventually,
he applied his know-ledge for the
benefit of others.

Despite their crude methods, many of today's medicines spring from sources
as simple and elementary as those which were within reach of early man.

Babylon, jewel of ancient

Mesopotamia, often called the
cradle of civilization, provides the
earliest known record of
practice of the art of the
apothecary. Practitioners of
healing of this era (about 2600
B.C.) were priest, pharmacist
and physician, all in one.

Medical texts on clay tablets record first the symptoms of illness, the
prescription and directions for compounding, then an invocation to the gods.
Ancient Babylonian methods find counterpart in today's modern
pharmaceutical, medical, and spiritual care of the sick.

Chinese Pharmacy, according

to legend, stems from Shen
Nung (about 2000 B.C.),
emperor who sought out and
investigated the medicinal value
of several hundred herbs. He
reputed to have tested many of
them on himself, and to have
written the first Pen T-Sao, or
native herbal, recording 365
drugs.

Still worshiped by native Chinese drug guilds as their patron god, Shen Nung
conceivably examined many herbs, barks, and roots brought in from the fields,
swamps, and woods that are still recognized in Pharmacy today.

Though Egyptian medicine

dates from about 2900 B.C.,
best known and most important pharmaceutical record is
the "Papyrus Ebers" (1500
B.C.), a collection of 800
prescriptions, mentioning 700
drugs.
Pharmacy in ancient Egypt was conducted by two or more echelons: gatherers
and preparers of drugs, and "chiefs of fabrication," or head pharmacists. They
are thought to have worked in the "House of Life." In a setting such as this, the
"Papyrus Ebers" might have been dictated to a scribe by a head pharmacist as he
directed compounding activities in the drug room.

THE EBERS
PAPYRUS IN
HIERATIC SCRIPT.
1530 B.C.
Remedy to clear out the
body and to get rid of the
excrement in the body of a
person.
Berries of the castor-oil tree
Chew and swallow down
with beer in order to clear
out all that is in the body.

Perfume and Cosmetics

Gathering lilies for their

perfume.

Source: Singer et al., 1954, Fig. 189.

Contemporary picture
of students
harvesting peaches.

Source: R. Hayden photo.

Perfume and Cosmetics

Expressing oil of lily.

Source: Singer et al., 1954.

Compounding Ointments and Perfumes (Thebes 1500 BCE)

Assistants crush dried herbs with pestle and mortar

(1,2,3,4).
The crushed herbs are added to a bowl of molten fat,
stirred (5) and shaped into balls upon cooling (6).
Special jars probably containing spiced wine, a useful
solvent because of its alcohol content is siphoned and
filtered into a bowl (7).
At extreme left an assistant shapes a piece of wood beneath
a bowl heaped with unguents (8).
Source: Singer et al., 1954.

Plant Exploration (ca 2000 BCE)

An epistle in which the Egyptian scribe Sinuhe penned the

following description about Yaa, the name for Israel.

It was a goodly land called Yaa Figs were in it and grapes,

and its wine was more abundant than its water. Plentiful
was its honey, many were its olives; all manner of fruits
were upon its trees.
Source: Goor and Nurock, 1968.

Plant Exploration

Ships of Queen Hatshepsuts fleet landing at Punt

(northeastern coast of Africa) with exotic
merchandise for Egypt. Deir el-Bahri, ca. 1500 BCE.
Note tame baboons, marine character of fish, the carting
and storage of incense plants.
Source: Singer et al., 1954.

An Early Botanical Collection.

Strange plants and seeds

brought back from Syria
by Thothmes II, as they
were carved on the walls
of the temple of Karnak,
Egypt, ca. 1450 BCE.

Source: Singer et al., 1954.

~ 500 B.C.
TERRA SIGILLATA
AN EARLY
TRADEMARK
Man learned early of the

prestigious advantage of
trademarks as a means of
identification of source and of
gaining customers'
confidence. One of the first
therapeutic agents to bear such a
mark was Terra Sigillata
(Sealed Earth), a clay tablet
originating on the Mediterranean
island of Lemnos before 500 B.C.
One day each year clay was dug from a pit on a Lemnian hillside in the presence of
governmental and religious dignitaries. Washed, refined, rolled to a mass of proper
thickness, the clay was formed into pastilles and impressed with an official seal by
priestesses, then sun-dried. The tablets were then widely distributed commercially.

~ 300 B.C.
THEOPHRASTUS
FATHER OF BOTANY
Theophrastus (about 300 B.C.),
among the greatest early Greek
philosophers and natural
scientists, is called the "father of
botany." His observations and
writings dealing with the medical
qualities and peculiarities of
herbs are unusually accurate,
even in the light of present
knowledge.
He lectured to groups of students who walked about with him, learning of nature by
observing her treasurers at firsthand. In his hands he holds a branch of belladonna.
Behind him are pomegranate blooms, senna, and manuscript scrolls. Slabs of ivory,
coated with colored beeswax, served the students as "slates." Writing was cut into the
surface with a stylus.

~ 100 B.C.
MITHRIDATES
ROYAL
TOXICOLOGIST
Mithridates VI, King of Pontus
(about 100 B.C.), though he
battled Rome for a lifetime, found
time to make not only the art of
poisoning, but also the art of
preventing and counteracting
poisoning, subjects of intensive
study.

Unhesitatingly, he used himself as well as his prisoners as "guinea pigs" on which to test
poisons and antidotes. Behind him are rhizotomists, offering fresh, flowering aconite,
ginger, and gentian. At lower right is a crater - a two-piece forerunner of the champagne
bucket. His famed formula of alleged panantidotal powers, "Mithridatum," was popular
for over a thousand years.

~ 100 A.D.
DIOSCORIDES
A SCIENTIST LOOKS
AT DRUGS
In the evolution of all successful
and enduring systems of
knowledge there comes a time
when the observations of many
men, or the intensive studies
of one, transcend from the
level of trade or vocation to
that of a science. Pedanios
Dioscorides (first century A.D.),
contributed mightily to such a
transition in Pharmacy.
In order to study materia medica, Dioscorides accompanied the Roman armies
throughout the known world. He recorded what he observed, promulgated excellent
rules for collection of drugs, their storage and use. His texts were considered basic
science as late as the sixteenth century.

Genealogy of Dioscoridian texts (after Singer)

Images from Dioscorides.

Cowpea

Images from Dioscorides.

Ferula

The preparation of an
aromatic wine to treat
coughs; from an Arabic
translation of Treatise on
Medicine by Dioscorides.
(Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

130 200 A.D.

GALEN
EXPERIMENTER IN
DRUG
COMPOUNDING
Of the men of ancient times
whose names are known and
revered among both the
professions of Pharmacy and
Medicine, Galen, undoubtedly, is
the foremost. Galen (130-200
A.D.) practiced and taught
both Pharmacy and Medicine
in Rome.
Galens principles of preparing and compounding medicines ruled in the Western world
for 1,500 years; and his name still is associated with that class of pharmaceuticals
compounded by mechanical means - galenicals. He was the originator of the formula for
a cold cream, essentially similar to that known today. Many procedures Galen originated
have their counterparts in today's modern compounding laboratories.

This miniature in an Arabic manuscript of the early 13th century

depicts the preparation of drugs.
A liquid remedy is being mixed over a fire in the open air, where
flora and fauna symbolize the pharmaceutical bounty of nature.
The bearded figure (right) holds out an ornate ceramic drug
container.
Manuscript was based on Galens treatise concerning electuaries
(lozenges).

~ 3RD CENTURY A.D.

DAMIAN AND COSMAS
Twinship of SAINTS
the health
PHARMACYS PATRON
professions, Pharmacy and
Medicine, is nowhere more
strikingly portrayed than by
Damian, the apothecary, and
Cosmas, the physician. Twin
brothers of Arabian descent,
and devout Christians, they
offered the solace of religion
as well as the benefit of their
knowledge to the sick who
visited them.
Their twin careers were cut short in the year 303 by martyrdom. For centuries their tomb
in the Syrian city of Cyprus was a shrine. Churches were built in their honor in Rome and
other cities. After canonization, they became the patron saints of Pharmacy and Medicine,
and many miracles were attributed to them.

5TH 12TH CENTURY A.D.

MONASTIC PHARMACY
During the Middle Ages
remnants of the Western
knowledge of Pharmacy
and Medicine were
preserved in the
monasteries (fifth to
twelfth centuries). These
scientists are known to
have been taught in the
cloisters as early as the
seventh century.
Manuscripts from many islands were translated or copied for monastery libraries. The
monks gathered herbs and simples in the field, or raised them in their own herb gardens.
These they prepared according to the art of the apothecary for the benefit of the sick and
injured. Gardens such as these still may be found in monasteries in many countries.

~ 8TH CENTURY A.D.

THE FIRST APOTHECARY SHOPS
The Arabs separated the arts
of apothecary and physician,
establishing in Bagdad late in
the eighth century the first
privately owned drug stores.
They preserved much of the
Greco-Roman wisdom, added
to it, developing with the aid
of their natural resources
syrups, confections,
conserves, distilled waters
and alcoholic liquids.

The apothecary is examining logs of sandalwood offered by a traveling merchant, while

children indulge their taste for sweets with stalks of sugar cane. When the Moslems swept
across Africa, Spain and southern France, they carried with them a new pattern of
Pharmacy which western Europe soon assimilated.

980 1037 A.D.

IBN SINA THE PERSIAN GALEN
Among the brilliant
contributors to the
sciences of Pharmacy
and Medicine during the
Arabian era was one
genius who seems to
stand for his time - the
Persian, Ibn Sina (about
980-1037 A.D.), called
Avicenna by the
Western world.

Pharmacist, poet, physician, philosopher and diplomat, Avicenna was an intellectual giant,
a favorite of Persian princes and rulers. He wrote in Arabic, often while secluded in the
home of an apothecary friend. His pharmaceutical teachings were accepted as authority
in the West until the 17th century; and still are dominant influences in the Orient.

1240 A.D.
SEPARATION OF PHARMACY
AND MEDICINE
In European countries
exposed to Arabian
influence, public
pharmacies began to
appear in the 11th
century. However, it was
not until about 1240 A.D.
that, in Sicily and southern
Italy, Pharmacy was
separated from Medicine.
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, who was Emperor of Germany as well as King of Sicily, was
a living link between Oriental and Occidental worlds. At his palace in Palermo, he
presented subject Pharmacists with the first European edict completely separating their
responsibilities from those of Medicine, and prescribing regulations for their
professional practice.

1498 A.D.
THE FIRST OFFICIAL PHARMACOPOEIA
The idea of a pharmacopoeia
with official status, to be
followed by all apothecaries,
originated in Florence. The
Nuovo Receptario, originally
written in Italian, was
published and became the
legal standard for the citystate in 1498.

It was the result of collaboration of the Guild of Apothecaries and the Medical Society one of the earliest manifestations of constructive interprofessional relations. The
professional groups received official advice and guidance from the powerful Dominican
monk, Savonarola, (seated, foreground) who, at the time, was the political leader in
Florence.

1617 A.D.
THE SOCIETY OF
APOTHECARIES OF LONDON
Trade in drugs and
spices was lucrative in
the Middle Ages. In the
British Isles, it was
monopolized by the
Guild of Grocers, which
had jurisdiction over the
apothecaries. After
years of effort, the
apothecaries found allies
among court physicians.
Upon persuasion by the philosopher-politician, Francis Bacon, King James I granted a
charter in 1617 which formed a separate company known as the "Master, Wardens and
Society of the Art and Mystery of the Apothecaries of the City of London" over vigorous
protests of the grocers. This was the first organization of pharmacists in the Anglo-Saxon
world.

1605 ~ 1640S
LOIUS HEBERT - CANADA
Young Parisian Apothecary Louis
Hbert answered the call of the
New World in 1605, when he
helped de Monts and Champlain
build New France's first settlement,
the Habitation, at Port Royal (Nova
Scotia, Canada). Hbert looked
after the health of the pioneers,
cultivated native drug plants, and
supervised the gardens.
At the waterfront, he examined specimens of drug plants offered by Micmac Indians.
These included Arum, (Jack-in-the-Pulpit), Eupatorium (Boneset), Verbascum (Mullein),
and Hydrastis (Golden Seal). When the Habitation was destroyed by the English in 1613,
he returned to his Parisian apothecary shop. The lure of Canada was strong, however,
and in 1617, he and the family returned with Champlain to Quebec, where Hbert's
"green thumb" gained him lasting fame as the first successful farmer in what is now
Canada.

~ 1640
JOHN WINTROP - BOSTON
Many Europeans "of quality
and wealth, particularly
those who were nonconformists in religion"
were attracted to the
possibilities of the American
Colonies. From Britain came
John Winthrop, first
Governor of Massachusetts
Bay Colony and founder of
Boston.

Governor Winthrop, unable to induce professionals to the Colony, sought advice from
English apothecaries and physicians, and added to his small store of imported drugs
those derived from plants native to New England. In his home (about 1640), he made
available as best he could the "art and mystery" of the apothecary for his citizens.

1729
THE MARSHALL APOTHECARY
Christopher Marshall, an Irish
immigrant, established his
apothecary shop in Philadelphia
in 1729. During 96 years, this
pioneer pharmaceutical
enterprise became a leading retail
store, nucleus of large-scale
chemical manufacturing; a
"practical" training school for
pharmacists; an important supply
depot during the Revolution; and
finally, it was managed by granddaughter Elizabeth, America's first
woman pharmacist.

Christopher earned the title of "The fighting Quaker" during the Revolution; his sons, Charles
and Christopher, Jr., (shown as youths with their father, about 1754) earned individual fame
and carried on his fine traditions.

1752
FIRST HOSPITAL PHARMACY
Colonial America's first
hospital (Pennsylvania) was
established in Philadelphia in
1751; the first Hospital
Pharmacy began operations
there in 1752. First Hospital
Pharmacist was Jonathan
Roberts.

It was his successor, John Morgan, whose practice as a hospital pharmacist (1755-56),
and whose impact upon Pharmacy and Medicine influenced changes that were to
become of importance to the development of professional pharmacy in North America.
First as pharmacist, later as physician, he advocated prescription writing and
championed independent practice of two professions.

1742 - 1786
CARL WILHELM SCHEELE
During his few short years, Carl
Wilhelm Scheele gave to the
world discoveries that have
brought its people incalculable
advantages. Being sometimes
called the Founder of Organic
Chemistry, he never forgot that
he was, first of all, a pharmacist.
Encouraged by enlightened
preceptors, all of his discoveries
were made in the Swedish
pharmacists in which he worked,
as apprentice, as clerk, and finally
as owner, in Kping.
He began in a corner of the stock room of Unicorn Apothecary in Gothenburg. With rare
genius, he made thousands of experiments, discovered oxygen, chlorine, prussic acid,
tartaric acid, tungsten, molybdenum, glycerin, nitroglycerin, and countless other organic
compounds that enter into today's daily life, industry, health, and comfort.

1777
ANDREW CRAIGIE
FIRST APOTHECARY GENERAL
First man to hold the rank of a
commissioned pharmaceutical
officer in an American army was
the Bostonian apothecary,
Andrew Craigie. First appointed
commissary of medical stores by
Massachusetts' Committee of
Safety, April 30, 1775, he was
present at the Battle of Bunker
Hill, June 17, 1775, and probably
assisted in taking care of the sick
and wounded there in a makeshift station back of the lines.
When Congress reorganized the Medical Department of the Army in 1777, Craigie became
the first Apothecary General. He duties included procurement, storage, manufacture, and
distribution of the Army's drug requirements. He also developed an early wholesaling and
manufacturing business.

1816
SERTRNER (1783 1841)
FIRST ALKALOID CHEMIST
Swedish pharmacist Scheele
paved the way for isolating
organic plant acids; but it
remained for a young German
apothecary, Friedrich Wilhelm
Adam Sertrner, to give the
world opium's chief narcotic
principle, morphine; and to
recognize and prove the
importance of a new class of
organic substances: alkaloids.
His first announcements challenged, Sertrner in 1816 conducted a new series of bold,
startling experiments in his apothecary shop in Einbeck, including a series of physiologic
tests on himself and three young friends. Recognition and fame followed. Relocating in an
apothecary shop in Hameln, Sertrner continued organic chemical experimentation and
discovery throughout his life.

1820
CAVENTOU, PELLETIER AND QUININE
Taking their cue from Sertrner's
alkaloidal experiments, two French
pharmacists, Pierre-Joseph Pelletier
and Joseph-Bienaim Caventou,
isolated emetine from ipecacuanha
in 1817; strychnine and brucine
from nux vomica in 1818; then, in
their laboratory in the back of a
Parisian apothecary shop, they
tackled the problem that had baffled
scientists for decades - wresting the
secrets of the Peruvian barks that
were so useful against malaria.
In 1820 Caventou and Pelletier announced the methods for separation of quinine and
cinchonine from the cinchona barks; prepared pure salts, had them tested clinically, and set
up manufacturing facilities. Many other discoveries came from their pharmacy-laboratory;
high honors were accorded them.

13 MARCH 1821
FIRST PHARMACEUTICAL
ORGANISATION
Faced with two major
threats; deterioration of the
practice of pharmacy, and a
discriminatory classification
by the University of
Pennsylvania medical
faculty, the pharmacists of
Philadelphia held a
tempestuous protest
meeting in Carpenters' Hall,
February 23, 1821.
At a second meeting, March 13, the pharmacists voted formation of an association,
which became The Philadelphia College of Pharmacy; a school of pharmacy; and a selfpolicing board. Sixty-eight pharmacists signed the Constitution of the first
pharmaceutical association in the United States; American Pharmacy's first educational
institution, bearing the same name, opened November 9.

~ 1820 1900
SHAKERS AND MEDICAL HERBS
First U.S. industry in medicinal
herbs was carried on by the United
Society of Believers in Christ's
Second Appearing, commonly
known as the Shakers. Begun
about 1820, and commercially
important by 1830, the medicinal
herb industry grew, hit its peak in
the 1860's, then waned at the
close of the century.

The Shakers gathered or cultivated some 200 varieties of medicinal herbs; dried,
chopped, and pressed them into "bricks"; wrapped, labeled, and sold them to
pharmacists and physicians world-wide. Tons of solid and fluid extracts also were
produced. The Shaker label was recognized for reliability and quality for more than a
century.

6-8 OCTOBER 1852

AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL
ASSOCIATION
Need for better communication
among pharmacists; standards
for education and
apprenticeship; and quality
control of imported drugs, led
to calling of a convention of
representative pharmacists in
the Hall of the Philadelphia
College of Pharmacy, October 6
to 8, 1852.

Under leadership of its first President, Daniel B. Smith, and first Secretary, William
Procter, Jr., the twenty delegates launched The American Pharmaceutical Association;
mapped its objectives; and opened membership to "All pharmaceutists and druggists" of
good character who subscribed to its Constitution and to its Code of Ethics. The
Association continues to serve Pharmacy today.

21-24 AUGUST 1867

EUROPEAN VS AMERICAN PHARMACY
Over the years, no real discord had
existed between representatives of
European and American Pharmacy
so far as ethical and scientific aims
are concerned. But when the
groups met for the first time, at
the Second International Congress
of Pharmacy in Paris, France,
August 21 to 24, 1867, there was a
great divergence of opinion on the
subject of compulsory limitation of
pharmacies.
William Procter, Jr., leading the delegates of The American Pharmaceutical Association, told
the international body that "Public opinion is in America a forceful agent of reform," and
that, in his country, "there is not the slightest obstacle toward a multiplication of drug stores
save that a lack of success." His declaration vividly documented the American Way of
Pharmacy.

~ 1815 1874
WILLIAM PROCTER THE FATHER OF
AMERICAN PHARMACY
Rarely has a titular distinction been
so deserved. William Procter, Jr.,
graduated from The Philadelphia
College of Pharmacy in 1837;
operated a retail pharmacy; served
the College as Professor of
Pharmacy for 20 years; was a leader
in founding The American
Pharmaceutical Association.

He served that organization as its first secretary; later, as its president; served 30 years on
the U.S.P. Revision Committee; was for 22 years Editor of the American Journal of
Pharmacy. In 1869, though retired, Procter continued to edit the Journal in a small
publication office located beside the College's Tenth Street building. From retirement he
returned to P.C.P.'s chair of Pharmacy in1872; literally died "in the harness," in 1874.

1868
PHARMACEUTICAL EDUCATION
When Dr. Albert B. Prescott
launched the pharmacy course at
the University of Michigan in
1868, critical attention was
aroused because he abandoned
the traditional requirement of
pregraduation apprenticeship.
At the 1871 convention of the
American Pharmaceutical
Association, he was denied
credentials and ostracized.

However, the Michigan course pioneered other major changes: laboratory pharmacy, a
definite curriculum that included basic sciences, and a program that demanded students'
full-time attention. During the next thirty years, Dr. Prescott had the satisfaction of seeing
his once revolutionary innovations generally adopted by pharmaceutical faculties.

1877
A NEW PHARMACOPOEIA
The first "United States
Pharmacopoeia" (1820) was
the work of the medical
profession. It was the first
book of drug standards from a
professional source to have
achieved a nation's
acceptance. In 1877, the
"U.S.P." was in danger of
dissolution due to the lack of
interest of the medical
profession.
Dr. Edward R. Squibb, manufacturing pharmacist as well as physician, took the problem to
The American Pharmaceutical Association convention. Pharmacists formed a "Committee
on Revision" chairmanned by hospital pharmacist Charles Rice, assisted by pharmacisteducator Joseph P. Remington, and by Dr. Squibb, their indefatigable collaborator. The
"U.S. Pharmacopoeia" surged to new importance.

1879
STANDARDIZATION OF
PHARMACEUTICALS
Despite the professional skill
and integrity of 19th-century
pharmacists, seldom did two
preparations of vegetable
drugs have the same strength,
even though prepared by
identical processes. Plant
drugs varied widely in active
alkaloidal and glucosidal
content.
The first answer to this problem came when Parke, Davis & Company introduced
standardized "Liquor Ergotae Purificatus" in 1879. Dr. Albert Brown Lyons, as the firm's
Chief Chemist, further developed methods of alkaloidal assay. Messrs. Parke and Davis
recognized the value of his work, and in 1883, announced a list of twenty standardized
"normal liquids." Parke-Davis also pioneered in developing pharmacologic and physiologic
standards for pharmaceuticals.

1884
SECRETS OF THE JUNGLE
Expeditions in search of new
medicinal plants probably are as
old as Pharmacy. Scientific
adventurers, such as Henry Hurd
Rusby (1855-1940), opened vast
new horizons for the
advancement of Pharmacy and
Medicine, late in the nineteenth
century.

Sent by Parke, Davis & Company in 1884 to Peru for supplies of coca leaves, Dr. Rusby
crossed the Andes and journeyed down the Amazon to the Atlantic amid incredible
hardships. He returned with 45,000 botanical specimens. Among them were many new
drug plants, including cocillana bark, pharmaceutical preparations of which are still
important to Medicine. Dr. Rusby later became Dean of the College of Pharmacy of
Columbia University.

1831 1877
STANISLAS LIMOUSIN - INVENTOR
One of those men singularly
gifted in combining scientific
knowledge with technical skill
and with inventive genius was
the french retail pharmacist,
Stanislas Limousin (1831-1887).

Among the many devices which he introduced to Pharmacy and Medicine were the
medicine dropper; the system of coloring poisons (such as corrosive sublimate); and wafer
cachets (which found favor prior to mass production of the gelatin capsule). His greatest
contributions, however, were the development and perfection of apparatus for the
inhalation and therapeutic administration of oxygen; and invention of glass ampoules that
could be sealed and sterilized for preservation of solutions for hypodermic use.

~ 1895
THE ERA OF BIOLOGICALS
When, in 1894, Behring and
Roux announced the
effectiveness of diphtheria
antitoxin, pharmaceutical
scientists both in Europe and
in the United States rushed
to put the new discovery into
production. Parke, Davis &
Company was among the
pioneers. The serum became
available in 1895, and lives of
thousands of children were
saved.
Inoculation of horses with diphtheria toxin was the first step of many in producing antitoxin.
In 1903, Parke-Davis received U.S. Biological License No. 1. New, improved biological
products have continued to become available, climaxed in 1955 by poliomyelitis vaccine.

EARLY 20TH CENTURY

DEVELOPMENT OF CHEMOTHERAPY
One of the successful researchers
in the development of new
chemical compounds specifically
created to fight disease-causing
organisms in the body was the
French pharmacist, Ernest
Francois Auguste Fourneau
(1872-1949), who for 30 years
headed chemical laboratories in
the world-renowned Institut
Pasteur, in Paris.
His early work with bismuth and arsenic compounds advanced the treatment of syphilis. He
broke the German secret of a drug specific for sleeping sickness; paved the way for the lifesaving sulfonamide compounds; and from his laboratories came the first group of chemicals
having recognized antihistaminic properties. His work led other investigators to broad fields
of chemotherapeutic research.

1930S
PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH
Research in some form has gone
hand in hand with the development
of Pharmacy through the ages.
However, it was the chemical
synthesis of antipyrine in 1883 that
gave impetus and inspiration for
intensive search for therapeutically
useful compounds. Begun by the
Germans, who dominate the field
until World War I, the lead in
pharmaceutical research passed
thereafter to the United States.

Research in Pharmacy came into its own in the late 1930's and early 1940's; has grown
steadily since, supported by pharmaceutical manufactures, universities, and government.
Today it uses techniques and trained personnel from every branch of science in the unending
search for new life-saving and life-giving drug products.

~ 1600 / 20TH CENTRURY

PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING

Pharmaceutical manufacturing as
an industry apart from retail
Pharmacy had its beginnings
about 1600; really got under way
in the middle 1700's. It developed
first in Germany, then in England
and in France.

In America, it was the child of wars - born in the Revolution; grew rapidly during and
following the Civil War; became independent of Europe during World War I; came of age
during and following World War II. Utilizing latest technical advances from every branch of
science, manufacturing Pharmacy economically develops and produces the latest and
greatest in drugs in immense quantities, so that everywhere physicians may prescribe them
and pharmacists dispense them for the benefit of all mankind.

1929 PRESENT
THE ERA OF ANTIBIOTICS
Antibiotics are not new. Their
actions probably were first
observed by Pasteur in 1877.
However, the second quarter of
the 20th century marked the
flowering of the antibiotic era - a
new and dramatic departure in
the production of diseasefighting drugs. Fleming's
discovery of penicillin in 1929
went undeveloped and Florey
and Chain studied it in 1940.
Under pressure of World War II, the pharmaceutical manufacturers rapidly adapted mass
production methods to penicillin; have reduced costs to 1/1000th the original. Antibiotic
discoveries came rapidly in the '40's. Intensive research continues to find antibiotics that will
conquer more of men's microbial enemies.

HISTORY OF PHARMACY
PHARMACY TODAY AND TOMORROW
Pharmacy, with its heritage of 50
centuries of service to mankind,
has come to be recognized as one
of the great professions. Like
Medicine, it has come through
many revolutions, has learned
many things, has had to discard
many of its older ways.
Pharmacists are among the
community's finest educated
people.
When today's retail pharmacist fills a prescription written by a physician, he provides a
professional service incorporating the benefits of the work of pharmacists in all branches of the
profession - education, research, development, standards, production, and distribution.
Pharmacy's professional stature will continue to grow in the future as this great heritage and
tradition of service is passed on from preceptor to apprentice, from teacher to student, from
father to son.

HISTORY OF PHARMACY
IMPORTANT DATES AND KEY DISCOVERIES
Prehistoric times

Observation , direct use of plants

~ 2900 B.C.

Egyptian Medicine

~ 2600 B.C.

(Babylon) Single health profession:

Priest/Physician/Pharmacist
Earliest known records of arts of apothecaries

~ 2000 B.C.

Chinese pharmacy extensive studies of plants

and herbs; Shen Nung

~ 1500 B.C.

Papyrus Ebers first major collection of drugs and

prescriptions

~ 500 B.C.

Terra sigillata first trademark

~ 300 B.C.

Theophrastus father of botany

HISTORY OF PHARMACY
IMPORTANT DATES AND KEY DISCOVERIES

~ 100 B.C.

Mithridates first scientific studies of poisons and

antidotes, including tests on humans

~ 100 A.D.

Dioscorides scientific writings on drug storage

and use
Transition of Pharmacy from trade/vocation into
science

130 200 A.D.

Galen principles of preparing and compounding

medicines
Galenicals pharmaceuticals compounded by
mechanical means

~ 200 300 A.D.

Damian and Cosmas twinship of Pharmacy and

Medicine

HISTORY OF PHARMACY
IMPORTANT DATES AND KEY DISCOVERIES
4th 12th century

Monasteries keep pharmaceutical records

8th century A.D.

Arabia: separation of pharmacy and medicine

Arabic influence reaches Europe

980 1037

Ibn Sina most influential pharmaceutical

teachings (standard into 17th century!!)

1240

Official separation of Pharmacy and Medicine in

Europe (Frederick II of Hohenstaufen in Sicily)

1498

First official Pharmacopoeia (Florence, Italy)

1617

Society of Apothecaries founded in London, UK

1729

Marshall Apothecary first pharmacy and centre

of pharmaceutical education in USA

HISTORY OF PHARMACY
IMPORTANT DATES AND KEY DISCOVERIES
1752

First hospital Pharmacy in USA (Philadelphia, PA)

1800s

Carl Wilhelm Scheele Chemist & Pharmacist

1816

Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertrner Founder of Alkaloid

Chemistry

1820

Caventou & Pelletier Quinine (antimalaria)

1820 - 1900

Shaker label trademark, international quality recognition

1868

Albert B. Prescott New system of pharmaceutical

education: baic sciences, full study schedule, laboratory
pharmacy, no pregraduation apprenticeship

1879

Standardization of Pharmaceuticals
(Parke Davis: 20 standardized normal liquids)

HISTORY OF PHARMACY
IMPORTANT DATES AND KEY DISCOVERIES

1895

Era of Biologicals antitoxins from animal serum

early 1900s

Development of Chemotherapy (Fourneau, Paris)

1929

Alexander Fleming Discovery of Penicilline, Antibiotics

used on large scale since ~1940

2003

GUC Faculty of Pharmacy & Biotechnology opens

HISTORY OF PHARMACY
ADVANCEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE

Observation documentation
(careful and thorough studies remain valuable throughout time)
Development of prescriptions (effective use of plants and herbs)
Development of standardized procedures of drug extraction and storage
(pharmacopoeia)
Isolation and synthesis of pharmaceutically active substances from plants,
herbs and other sources
Development of new active compounds based on known structures
(synthesis, interaction with medicine, biochemistry/strucutral biology)

60

SEJARAH DAN
PERKEMBANGAN
FARMASI di
INDONESIA

SEKILAS FARMASI DI INDONESIA

61

Sampai proklamasi kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia, para

tenaga farmasi Indonesia pada umumnya masih terdiri dari
asisten apoteker dengan jumlah yang sangat sedikit.
Tenaga apoteker pada masa penjajahan umumnya berasal dari
Denmark, Austria, Jerman dan Belanda. Namun, semasa perang
kemerdekaan, kefarmasian di Indonesia mencatat sejarah yang
sangat berarti, yakni dengan didirikannya Perguruan Tinggi
Farmasi di Klaten pada tahun 1946 dan di Bandung tahun 1947.
Semasa pemerintahan Hindia Belanda.
Pendidikan asisten apoteker : di tempat kerja (di apotek) oleh
apoteker. Setelah bekerja dalam jangka waktu tertentu di apotek
dan dianggap memenuhi syarat maka diadakan ujian
pengakuan yang diselenggarakan oleh pemerintah Hindia
Belanda. Asisten apoteker warga negara Belanda lulusan
Indonesia yang pertama lulus tahun 1946 yang diuji di Surabaya.

62

Dari buku Verzameling Voorschriften thn 1936 yang dkeluarkan

oleh DVG, Sekolah Asisten Apoteker didirikan dengan Surat
Keputusan Pemerintah Nomor 38 tanggal 7 Oktober 1918, yang
kemudian diubah dengan Surat Keputusan Nomor 15 (Stb.no.50)
tanggal 28 Januari 1923 dan Nomor 45 (Stb.392) tanggal 28 Juni
1934 dengan nama Leergang voor de opleididing van apotheker
bedienden onder den naam van apothekers assistenschool
Peraturan ujian asisten apoteker dan persyaratan izin kerja diatur
dalam Surat Keputusan Kepala DVG Nomor 8512 / F tanggal 16
Maret 1933 yang kemudian diubah lagi dengan Surat Keputusan
Nomor 27817 / tanggal 8 September 1936 dan Nomor 11161 / F
tanggal 6 april 1939. Dinyatakan persyaratan untuk menempuh ijin
asisten apoteker harus berijazah MULO Bagian B, memiliki surat
keterangan bahwa calon telah melakukan pekerjaan kefarmasian
secara terus menerus selama 20 bulan dibawah pengawasan
seorang apoteker di Nederland atau di Indonesia yang memimpin
sebuah apotek, atau telah mengikuti pendidikan asisten apoteker
di Jakarta.

63
Sekitar 1930-an ditetapkan beberapa peraturan
perundangundangan kefarmasian : undang - undang Obat Bius No. 278 (stb.
1927) tanggal 12 Mei 1927 yang kemudian diubah dengan No.
335 (stb. 1949); Ordonansi Loodwit No. 28 (Stb. 509) tanggal 21
Desember 1931; dan Ordonansi pemeriksaan bahan-bahan
Farmasi Nomor 19 (Stb. 660) tanggal 12 desember 1936.

Sampai perang kemerdekaan, jumlah pabrik farmasi maupun

apotek masih sangat sedikit, Pabrik farmasi pada periode itu
antara lain pabrik kina dan institut Pasteur yang memproduksi
serum dan vaksin, keduanya ada di bandung, Pabrik obat
Manggarai di Jakarta, sedangkan apotek pada umumnya hanya
terdapat di Jawa dan beberapa kota besar di Sumatera.
Pada tahun 1937, jumlah apotek diseluruh Indonesia tercata 76
Apotek. Fungsi apotek pada periode itu disamping melakukan
peracikan dan penyerahan obat juga melakukan produksi dan
distribusi obat.

64
Tahun 1941 Gubernur Jenderal Hindia Belanda mengeluarkan
peraturan : dokter untuk memimpin sebuah apotek yang
ditinggalkan apotekernya; memperbolehkan seorang dokter
untuk membuka apotek-dokter didaerah yang belum
mempunyai apotek.

Pada zaman pendudukan Jepang mulai dirintis Pendidikan

Tinggi Farmasi Indonesia, dan diresmikan pada tanggal 1 april
1943 dengan nama Yakugaku sebagai bagian dari Jakarta ka
Daigaku. pada tahun 1944, Yakugaku dubah menjadi Yaku
daigaku.
Setelah Jepang kalah, pendidikan Tinggi Farmasi ini bubar dan
seluruh
mahasiswanya
berjuang
untuk
menegakkan
kemerdekaan
dan
kedaulatan
negara
yang
baru
diproklamasikan.
Tahun 1944, pemerintahan pendudukan jepang melakukan
pendidikan asisten apoteker dengan masa pendidikan selama
8 bulan dan siswa berasal dari lulusan SMP sampai masa
pemerintahan militer Jepang jatuh telah dihasilkan dua
angkatan dengan jumlah yang sangat sedikit.

27 September 1945 dibuka perguruan tinggi ahli obat di kalten

65

yang kemudian menjadi fakultas farmasi Universitas Gajah Mada

Yogyakarta
1 agustus 1947 di Bandung diresmikan Jurusan Farmasi dari fakultas

Ilmu pasti dan ilmu Alam Universitas Indonesia yang kemudian

menjadi jurusan faramasi ITB sekarang ini
Pada masa perang kemerdekaan ini, ada beberapa peraturan
perundang-undangan kefarmasian yang penting,
1)

Reglement DVG Stb. 1949 No. 228 (merupakan perubahan

Reglement DVG Stb 1882 No.97).

2) Ordonansi Bahan-bahan Berbahaya No. 337 tanggal 9

Desember 1949
3) Undang-undang Obat keras No. 419 tanggal 2 Desember
1949

5 september 1953, bagian farmasi Fakultas kedokteran Gigi dan

66
Farmasi UGM, untuk pertama kalinya menghasilkan dua orang
apoteker
2 April 1955 bagian farmasi ITB menghasilkan apoteker pertama.
Tahun 1953 pemerintah mengeluarkan Undang-undang Nomor 3
tentang Pembukaan Apotek. Sebelum dikeluarkannya undangundang ini , untuk membuka apotek boleh dilakukan dimana saja
dan tidak diperlukan izin dari pemerintah.
Pemerintah
dapat
melarang
kota-kota
tertentu
untuk
mendirikan apotek baru karena jumlahnya sudah dianggap
cukup memadai, izin pembukaan apotek hanya diberikan untuk
daerah - daerah yang belum ada atau belum memadai jumlah
apoteknya.

Undang-undang nomor 4 tahun 1953 tentang apotek darurat,

yang membenarkan seorang asisten apoteker untuk memimpin
sebuah apotek.
Undang - undang tentang apotek darurat ini sebenarnya harus
berakhir pada tahun 1958 karena ada klausal yang termaktub
dalam undang-undang tersebut tidak berlaku lagi 5 tahun setelah
apoteker pertama dihasilkan oleh perguruan tinggi farmasi
Indonesia.

67
Akan tetapi karena lulusan apoteker ternyata sangat sedikit,
undang-undang ini diperpanjang sampai tahun 1963, dan
perpanjangan tersebut berdasarkan surat keputusan Menteri
Kesehatan Nomor 770 / Ph/63/b tanggal 29 Oktober 1983.

Muktamar pertama yang diselenggarakan pada tanggal 17 - 18

juni 1955 di Jakarta : Ikatan Apoteker Indonesia
September 1955 di kaliurang, yogyakarta diselenggarakan
konferensi Antar Mahasiswa Farmasi seluruh Indonesia yang
pertama dan melahirkan MAFARSI
Perkembangan lain dalam dunia pendidikan farmasi ialah
berdirinya Jurusan Farmasi UNPAD pada tahun 1959.

Pada tahun 1955, jumlah apoteker tercatat 108 orang. Asisten

apoteker 1.218 orang , apotek 131 dan pabrik obat sebanyak 7
pabrik. Pada tahun 1958 tersebut bertambah menjadi apoteker
132 orang, asisten apoteker 1613 orang, apotek 146 dan pabrik
obat sebanyak 18 pabrik.

68

PERIODE TAHUN 1958 SAMPAI DENGAN 1967

Pada periode ini, terutama antara tahun 1960 - 1965, karena
kesulitan devisa dan keadaan ekonomi yang suram, industri
farmasi dalam negeri hanya dapat berproduksi sekitar 30% dari
kapasitas produksinya.
Penyediaan obat menjadi sangat terbatas dan sebagian besar
berasal dari impor. Sementara itu karena pengawasan belum
dapat dilakukan dengan baik banyak terjadi kasus bahan baku
maupun obat jadi yang tidak memenuhi persyaratan standar.
Sekitar tahun 1960 - 1965, peraturan perundang-undangan yang
dikeluarkan oleh pemerintah antara lain :
Undang-undang Nomor 9 tahun 1960 tentang Pokok-pokok
Kesehatan,
Undang-undang Nomor 10 tahun 1961 tentang barang,
Undang-undang Nomor 7 tahun 1963 tentang Tenaga Kesehatan,

Pada periode ini berakhirnya apotek dokter dan apotek

69

darurat.
Dengan

Surat

Keputusan

Menteri

Kesehatan

Nomor

33148/Kab/176 tanggal 8 Juni 1962, :

Tidak dikeluarkan lagi izin baru untuk pembukaan apotekdokter, dan Semua izin apotek-dokter dinyatakan tidak berlaku
lagi sejak tanggal 1 Januari 1963.
Berakhirnya apotek darurat ditetapkan dengan Surat Keputusan
Menteri Kesehatan Nomor 770/Ph/63/b tanggal 29 Oktober 1963
:
Tidak dikeluarkan lagi izin baru untuk pembukaan apotek
darurat,
Semua izin apotek darurat Ibukota Daerah Tingkat I dinyatakan
tidak berlaku lagi sejak tanggal 1 Pebruari 1964, dan

70

Pada tahun 1963, sebagai realisasi Undang-undang Pokok

Kesehatan telah dibentuk Lembaga Farmasi Nasional (Surat
Keputusan Menteri Kesehatan Nomor 39521/Kab/199 tanggal 11
Juli 1963).
Dengan demikian, pada waktu itu ada dua instansi pemerintah di
bidang kefarmasian, yakni Direktorat Urusan Farmasi dan Lembaga
Farmasi Nasional. Direktorat Urusan Farmasi Semula Inspektorat
Farmasi. Pada tahun 1967 mengalami pemekaran organisasi
menjadi Direktorat Jenderal Farmasi.
Pada periode 1958-1967, tenaga farmasi baik apoteker maupun
asisten apoteker semakin meningkat jumlahnya. Pada periode ini
telah didirikan lagi lima jurusan/fakultas farmasi negeri dan
beberapa fakultas farmasi swasta.
Pada tahun 1966, jumlah apoteker sebanyak 5.180 orang, apotek
585 dan industri farmasi 109 pabrik.

PERIODE SETELAH PERANG KEMERDEKAAN SAMPAI DENGAN

TAHUN 1958

71

Sarana pelayanan kesehatan telah berhasil dibangun dan

tersebar di seluruh pelosok tanah air dengan mutu pelayanan
yang semakin baik dan jangkauan yang semakin luas.

Sampai tahun pertama Repelita I, sebagian besar (80%)

kebutuhan obat nasional kita masih sangat tergantung pada
impor. Keadaan ini jelas tidak menguntungkan dan mempunyai
dampak negatif terhadap upaya peningkatan derajat kesehatan
rakyat.

72

Pada tahun 1975, institusi pengawasan farmasi dikembangkan

dengan adanya perubahan Direktorat Jenderal Farmasi menjadi
Direktorat Jenderal Pengawasan Obat dan Makanan.
Sementara itu, industri farmasi dalam negeri telah dapat
memproduksi sekitar 90% dari kebutuhan obat nasional.

Terhadap distribusi obat telah dilakukan penyempurnaan,

terutama penataan kembali fungsi apotek melalui Peraturan
Pemerintah Nomor 25 tahun 1980.
Pada tahun 1983 telah ditetapkan Kebijaksanaan Obat Nasional
yang merupakan penjabaran dari Sistem Kesehatan Nasional dan
menjadi pedoman serta petunjuk bagi penyelenggaraan semua
upaya dibidang obat.

73
Pada tahun 1973 nilai obat yang beredar di Indonesia sekitar US$
92 Juta, dan pada tahun 1980 meningkat menjadi US$ 483 juta.
Ini berarti nilai obat yang beredar pada tahun 1980 mengalami
kenaikan 425% dibandingkan dengan nilai obat yang beredar
pada tahun 1973. perkembangan dan kemajuan produksi obat
di Indonesia dapat dilihat dengan jelas apabila kita bandingkan
data produksi tahun 1969 /1970 dengan tahun 1981/1982
sebagai berikut :

Bentuk
sediaan

Produksi Tahun (Jutaan) Kenaikan

1969/1970

1981/1982

Tablet

2,545

9.591,37

276,80%

Kapsul

40,3

1.013,35

2.414,50%

Ampul

35,6

75,63

112,40%

Vial

6,7

72,85

987,30%