- Set of serums and vaccines. Germany, 1920s.
- Myosalvarsan medicine. Germany, 1920s–30s.In 1907, following countless experiments, the Nobel prize-winning German doctor and chemist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) was able to synthesise Salvarsan — the first drug effective in treating syphilis. This “salvational arsenium” (a phrase encoded in the drug’s trade name) became the first chemotherapy agent in the history of medicine, and a forerunner of contemporary antibiotics. Salvarsan attacked the treponema bacteria that caused syphilis, without causing substantial harm to the human body. The drug did have serious side effects though and was eventually phased out in the latter half of the 20th century. Myosalvarsan is an improved version of the same compound.
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Collection of Medicinal Products
The collection includes medicines produced by world-famous European pharma companies, major producers in Latvia and small local pharmacies, alongside medicinal preparations and herbariums, representing the wide world of treatment agents.
The collection includes the products of Merck, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Roche and other major producers of medicines. The history of Latvian pharmacology is also widely represented, from the first chemical pharmaceutics laboratory established in the early 20th century, to the early industrial producers Medfro and Farmazāns, to companies which are currently active such as Grindeks, Olainfarm and Riga pharmaceutical factory (Rīgas farmaceitiskā fabrika).
Set of serums and vaccines. Germany, 1920s.
Myosalvarsan medicine. Germany, 1920s–30s.