Felix Hoffmann in the National Inventors Hall of Fame

Distinction for the "father" of Aspirin®:

13-Jun-2002

Akron/USA – Felix Hoffmann, the discoverer of Aspirin®, has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, announced Donald Keck, President of the Foundation. The museum in Ohio features exhibits of men and women whose extraordinary inventions have made a contribution to medical, social or economic progress. The committee responsible for selecting the exhibits believes that Bayer's chemist, Felix Hoffmann, made such a discovery on August 10, 1897. On this day, he managed to synthesize acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), the active ingredient of Aspirin®, in a chemically pure and stable form and in doing so laid the foundations for an analgesic medicine whose spectrum of action now extends far beyond the treatment of pain.

Felix Hoffmann never realized how significant and indeed life- saving his discovery would become. In 1971, scientists discovered that the active ingredient of Aspirin® has the ability to prevent blood platelets from clumping together. It is thanks to this mechanism of action that Aspirin® is now used successfully to protect against recurrent myocardial infarction or stroke and for acute treatment of myocardial infarction. The most recent scientific studies have even indicated that ASA may help to prevent colorectal cancer.

Donald Keck, President of the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, emphasizes the significance of the inventors portrayed in the museum. "They have all made a contribution to making our lifestyle what it is today. Sixteen brilliant thinkers of our time will be inducted this year," notes Keck.

The "father" of Aspirin® will be in excellent company, including such renowned personalities as Walt Disney, who invented a special camera for producing animated films, or Henry Ford, a pioneer of the automobile industry and co-deviser of the Ford assembly line production method.

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