MINISTER REVEAIS OUR PRODUCTION NOW ON COMMERCIAL SCALE

Following more than six months of production in small pilot plants and experimental laboratories to meet urgent military requirements, penicillin is now being produced on n. commercial scale in three modern Canadian plants, it is announced by the Department of Munitions and Supply. While total Canadian production at present is taken by the Department and earmarked for use by the armed forces, some quantities of the drug, imported by the Government from the United States, are now available for limited civilian use.

The imported penicillin will be divided among the larger hospitals on the basis of the nunibcr of beds, and each hospital is now being advised as to its July quota. Hospi- tals with 25 beds or less will obtain needed supplies through the Chem- icals Control of the Department of Munitions and Supply. All general hospitals will receive a circular prepared by a Medical Advisory Committee, which is advising the Government on all matters regard- ing the distribution of the drug. This circular will detail the uses permitted, the method of admin- istration and the dosage.

Two Government Plants

Canada is now obtaining penicil- lin from three Canadian sources and by importation from the United States. Two of tho sources are (lovernment plants operated for the llrpartmcnt of Munitions and Supply, one a new modern

unit on the outskirts of Montreal, operated by the Montreal pharma- ceutical firm of Ayerst, McKenna and Harrison, and the other a plant in Toronto, operated by Con- naught Laboratories. The third plant, privately owned, has been brought into production by Merck nnd Company, Montreal.

The story 0t‘ penicillin in Canada has behind it a record of painstak- ing research, organization, and experiment. Early in 1942 research in the production of the drug, a healing agent derived from mould and ziccidentally discovered in Lon- don by Sir Alexander Fleming, was undertaken at the Banting Institute under the direction of Dr. Philip Greey with the assistance of Dr. Alice Gray. The penicillin thus produced was devoted to clinical research carried out in co-opera- tion with the armed services.

The promising results warranted a marked increase in the scale of operations and the Department arranged for the setting up of pilot plants at Montreal and Toronto. Production in these tem- porary units added further to the knowledge of production methods. Last summer the property occupied some years ago by Knox College in Toronto was rehabilitated and through the Government, the ne- cessary equipment was purchased and installed and Connauglit Laboratories was asked to forward production as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile a similar project was under way in Montreal, where, through the agency of-Ayerst, Mc- Kenna and Harrison a temporary

plant was established in Bonsa- cours Hall on the Montreal \vater- front. From this plant came the first Canadian 1icnicillin for use by the armed forces. This plant. is still in operation but its output of the “miracle drug” is being sup- plemented by production from the new plant on the outskirts of the city. This new plant will be offi- cially opened this summer.

Although figures on the produc- tion on this continent have been referred to in astronomical num- hers, such figures are likcly to cause confusion among laymen. Dosage for the average case may run anywhere from 60,000 to 1,000,000 Oxford units. Reduced to bulk measurement however, these {igures become more credible. Be- tause of extreme 1iotcncy, unit ‘igurcs do not rcvcal the actual llllk of the drug. One billion units s equal to about one pound of the IUPG drug.

Drug Dcriirca I-‘rom Mould

Penicillin in Caniuiizin Govern- nent plants is produced by surface culture, large open-neck bottles, similar to the familiar milk bottle, are partially filled with culture medium, plugged with cotton nnd stacked on racks which are rolled into large rotorts for sterilization. In the next step the bottles are inoculated with spores of the mould strain. In this regard, it is of interest that the most produc- tive mould strain yet used to yield penicillin was discovered on an over-ripe cantaloupe.

Following inoculation, the bottles are stored in temperature-con- trolled incubators where thfiy 1'9- main while the mould grows in a mat on the surface of the culture- At the end 0t‘ the incubation period the penicillin is harvested; the fluid is drained off from the hols ties and rapidly chilled before oc- ing subjected to a chemical pTDLuSS for the extraction and purification of the penicillin it contains.

Through a series of processes the penicillin is reduced to a yellowish powder which is placed in individ- ual ampoulcs. These ampoulcs, after tests for sterility and potency have been made, are ready for use by the physician. >

Already in Canada small amounts of the drug have been taken on “Mercy flights" to aid civilian cases where the infection would respond to no other treatment. In the main, however, the_druz has been used and will continue to be Mad primarily for the benefit of

‘Canada’! 118M918 me"-

i Penicillin From

lH-iiicilliii is derived from mould which grcnvs llhiflllllc‘ is used t0 partly fill bottles. Martin inserts cotton plug‘ into bottles.

i». a >. . Aft autoclave, _ home calming. Chemist Paul

r filling and corlving, bottles are racl which operates on same piinciivle as stcan

and

hlorozovick wishes rack

-_.

Esther Fox checks date on a batch of liroths in one

of culture rooms where cult drug from mould into broth.

In final operation hlarjoric

urc inculiatcs, frees the Process lasts; lcii day's.

Joyner filters penicillin

to remove impurities, clarify and sterilize the drug

in its sodium salt solution

-.._..»»

ready now for bottling.

in corn-base broth. iliilk-bottling ln 'l"<>ronlo, Clrmvn plant, Mrs. Hilda Plugs prevent containinzitioii of broth.

.0‘. ' » in‘ rolled into sterilizer or i pressure cooker used in into 1iosition in sterilizer.

S. S. Worthen, chemist supervises harvesting

The mould and broth

r

Filling 0i? penicillin stage takes place under Vial is 20 cc in size but a

Following steiilization,

are rolled on special wheeled racks into the “sterile whore tho air is

area.” There,

with

of penicillin mould, an operation are separated and penicilli

I’. o5 into vials

for final drying rigidly sterile conditions. mount depends on potencv

the government-owned

ll in broth enters chemical stages.

of germs by ultra-violet lamps, penicillin culture I‘ is added to broth by workers wearing hospital gowns, masks and rubber gloves, as Cecile Houlcau here.

bottles oi" corn-base broth

filtered and freed

¢A4~Al

plant in Montreal,

_ _ _ ‘ Finishing and stabilizing penicillin extract is last which is entirely automatic.

chemical stage before penicillin is filtered for bottling. Bruce Wallace adds amberlite solution.

A tiny vial of penicillin that may save the life of a Canadian soldier. Tho drug has proven its worth in treatment of both wound and burn infections but scientists are chary about making too-sweeping claim for miracle properties. National Film Board Photos by Ilurru Rowed.

A, I.