Throughout history, numerous world-changing pharmaceutical discoveries have been made, often leaving a profound and lasting impact on the healthcare of the human population. Among the many great pioneers of drug discovery, Sir Howard Walter Florey (24 September 1898 – 21 February 1968), was responsible for the discovery of penicillin, an antibiotic drug capable of killing a wide range of different bacterial species. The creation of penicillin, in addition to saving countless lives during World War II, led to the beginning of the golden age of antibiotics, where many new antibiotic drug innovations were made available in the pharmaceutical industry. Florey's contribution to the development of penicillin was so significant to the world that Australia's 12th Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, said: "In terms of welfare, Florey was the most important man ever born in Australia" (The University of Adelaide 2018). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 together with Sir Ernst Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his contribution to the discovery of penicillin (Science History Institute 2017). Florey was born to Joseph Florey, an English immigrant boot maker and Bertha Mary, a native Australian in Adelaide, South Australia (Fenner 1996). He graduated from the University of Adelaide with an MB, B. S in 1921 and was shortly thereafter offered a Rhodes Scholarship by the University of Oxford where he completed his B. Sc. and master's degrees in 1924 (Fenner 1996) . He then moved to Cambridge University where he conducted research on natural antibacterial substances, in particular the lysosome (discovered by Alexander Fleming as having antibacterial properties in 1922) and received his PhD in 1927 (Fenner 1996). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayAfter receiving his doctorate, Florey took on various positions as an academic, starting with lectures in the pathology department at Cambridge, where he also conducted his thesis on the flow of blood and lymph (Fenner 1996). He was later appointed professor of pathology at the University of Sheffield in 1931 before moving permanently to the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology as director in 1936 (Fenner 1996). Before his retirement from the Sir William Dunn School in 1962, it was there that Florey would make his legendary discovery of penicillin (Fenner 1996). Nowadays bacterial infections are sometimes seen as something trivial or, at least, not very worrying for the current generation. Before the discovery of penicillin, the threat that a bacterial infection posed to a patient was equivalent to the danger that cancer poses to a patient today. In 1929, Fleming published an article in the British Journal of Experimental Pathology that essentially summarized that the Penicillium fungus mold inhibited the growth of staphylococci on a staphylococcal culture plate (Eickhoff 2008). Although Fleming was credited with discovering the antibacterial properties of Penicillium mold, he was unable to develop it into an industry-applicable antibiotic as he struggled with the isolation and mass production of penicillin synthetically. Fleming finished his research on penicillin in 1931 and many years later Florey along with Ernst Chain would break the code and find a way to isolate penicillin (Eickhoff 2008). In particular, the Second World War raised awareness of the extreme danger of bacterial infections and made its request an absolute priority: troops died from small cuts and grazes in the field ofbattle. Therefore, the American War Production Board (WBP) was willing to fund large sums of money in antibacterial drug research (Quinn 2013). Consequently, this allowed Florey, as director of the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, to begin searching for versatile scientists with strong knowledge in multiple disciplines of the field from around the world. In the team assembled by Florey was Ernst Chain, a genius specializing in the fields of chemistry and physiology; he was also one of the first scientists to be hired (Science History Institute 2017). Florey and his team began a research project on the crystallization of the lysosome (an enzyme he studied in the past and which continues to pique his interest) and the characteristics of its substrate (Science History Institute 2017). Their research on the lysosome ended in 1938 and this led to the next research project; production of antibacterial substances by some microorganisms (including penicillin) and their biochemical and biological properties (Science History Institute 2017). During research, Chain discovered a method to purify and concentrate Penicillin, which consisted of a few key points; the penicillin broth had to be controlled within a certain pH range, the sample had to be cooled, and the product had to be evaporated repeatedly (Science History Institute 2017). In May 1940, Florey conducted perhaps the most important experiment ever conducted, he injected penicillin into four of eight mice infected with hemolytic streptococci with penicillin, and something extraordinary happened (Science History Institute 2017). Sixteen and a half hours passed and the four mice that had been injected with penicillin were still alive while the remaining four all died due to the streptococcal infection (Science History Institute 2017). This experiment was repeated numerous times to confirm the effectiveness of the antibacterial properties of penicillins and before long Florey and Chain published an article on their findings in the Lancet in 1940 (Science History Institute 2017). Unsurprisingly, this has left researchers around the world in awe of Florey and his teams' astonishing discovery. Naturally, Florey proceeded with human testing in January 1941, and in February 1941 an infected policeman became the first patient ever to be treated with penicillin. During the early stages of treatment the drug appeared to be effective. However, there was a problem with a limited supply of penicillin. Due to the lack of penicillin, the policeman eventually died. This motivated Florey to find a way to mass produce penicillin (Science History Institute 2017). One of the first steps in producing penicillin was to grow Penicillium mold above ground where it can be exposed to air and then grow (Science History Institute 2017). In an effort to produce as much penicillin as possible, all of the institute's laboratories and facilities near the Dunn School of Pathology were occupied with ceramic pots and pans growing Penicillium mold (Science History Institute 2017). Even though they had gotten to this point, the reality was that they were not yet producing the amount of penicillin they needed. Florey desperately contacted many British pharmaceutical companies requesting assistance in the production of penicillin, but all companies rejected him (due to priorities in the production of other drugs) except the Imperial Chemical Industry (although many of the companies that refused his request would later cooperate ). Florey's alternative strategy was to seek help from America and fortunately, thanks to his contacts, he was able to receive assistance from his.