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H. K. Mulford Company

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The H. K. Mulford Company was a pharmaceutical company founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in the late 1880s by Henry K. Mulford after his purchase of the Old Simes drugstore at 18th and Market Streets.[1] The company was purchased by Sharpe & Dohme Corp in 1929.

History

Henry Kendall Mulford (Oct 10, 1866 - Oct 15, 1937)[2] was a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. Soon after purchasing the Old Simes retail pharmacy store, Mulford began producing and selling pharmaceutical preparations. In 1889 he received financial investment to expand operations from Milton Campbell. In 1891 Campbell became president of the company, with Mulford vice president. Milton patented a compressed tablet machine. By 1892 the company had two laboratories, a field office in Chicago, and produced 800 different products.[1]

The company opened a laboratory in Glenolden, Pennsylvania in 1894 for the production of a diphtheria antitoxin.[3] In 1895 it became the first commercial producer of diphtheria antitoxin in the United States.[1] The company augmented its scientific research with staff and partnerships from the University of Pennsylvania's medical and veterinary departments.[1]

In 1909 the company opened a branch in San Francisco, California.[4]

By 1920, the company employed about one thousand employees and had 52 buildings on a 200-acre property in Glenolden and Foxcroft, PA. The company property was surrounded by pastures for horses and cows which were needed to produce serum and antitoxins. The company also grew gardens of plants for research and products, including acres of the purple foxglove flower for the heart medicine digitalis.[1][3]

In 1929 the company merged with Sharpe & Dohme Corp. At this time H. K. Mulford company produced many human and veterinary medicines, including a smallpox vaccine, the rabies vaccine, and antivenin.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Galambos, Louis (Aug 13, 1997). Networks of Innovation: Vaccine Development at Merck, Sharp and Dohme, and Mulford, 1895-1995. Cambridge University Press.
  2. ^ "H. K. Mulford dies," American Druggist 96, 1937, p. 112
  3. ^ a b c O'Neill, Robert F. (27 Dec 1992). "Recalling The Heyday Of Pioneering Drug Firm The H. K. Mulford Co. Of Glenolden Produced A Breakthrough Diphtheria Antitoxin". http://articles.philly.com/. Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 9 Jan 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
  4. ^ "SAN FRANCISCO BRANCH, H. K. MULFORD COMPANY". California State Journal of Medicine. 7 (4): 150. April 1909. PMC 1652892.

See also

  • The Obituary of Henry K. Mulford (Dec 1937) in the North Western Druggist
  • H. K. Mulford, The Preparation of Diphtheria Antitoxic Serum, Proceedings of the American Pharmaceutical Association at the Forty-Fourth Annual Meeting, August 1896, Baltimore 1896, pp. 227–231
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