Divulgation of Penicilin in Portugal in the technical literature (50's and 60s of XX century): the Therapeutic Symposium and the Portuguese Pharmacopeia

Penicillin was introduced in Portugal in May 1944 by the Portuguese Red Cross, which began regularly importing this medicine in September of the same year. From June 1945 onwards, penicillin began to be imported through the pharmaceutical industry and it was introduced in the distribution chain of medicines. In 1948, the first medicinal products with penicillin, manipulated in Portugal, entered the domestic market. In 1956, in view of the high number of medicines traded in the national market and the need to publicize them among the field, the first Therapeutic Symposiztnt was published. This work, being an important source of information, had a mainly commercial nature. The standardization of the production of medicines, the standardization of raw materials and the establishment of quality assurance procedures were officially enshrined in the Portuguese Pharmacopeia. Penicillin was only included in the Supplement of Portuguese Pharmacopeia IV, published in 1961. This paper attempts to show how the Therapeutic Symposium and the Portuguese Pharmacopeia, with very different aims, contributed to develop the existing knowledge of penicillin among the Portuguese health professionals.