Object Details
- Sharp and Dohme
- Description
- 5cc vial of Pertussis "Topagen" Soluble Antigen "made from Pertussis bacillus (phase 1) representing the soluable antigenic fraction of 20,000 million organisms per cc." In the 1930s and 1940s, Topagen was used intranasally in the treatment of whooping cough (pertussis) and was used as a whooping cough vaccine.
- This object was part of an exhibit on the manufacture and use of biological vaccines for the treatment of smallpox, respiratory infections, influenza, measles, and scarlet fever. Under the direction of the Smithsonian’s curator of medicine, the pharmaceutical company, Sharp & Dohme, designed and produced the exhibit which was installed at the Smithsonian in September 1947. The company became a major U.S. producer of biological products including many vaccines, serums, and antitoxins, after acquiring H. K. Mulford & Company in 1929. The Mulford Company was a pioneer in the commercial development of biologicals in the United States beginning with the production of a diphtheria antitoxin in the mid-1890s.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of Sharp & Dohme, Inc.
- ca 1947
- ID Number
- MG.177206.04
- catalog number
- 177206.04
- accession number
- 177206
- Object Name
- biological
- antigen, pertussis
- Other Terms
- Pertussis Topagen; Bacterial Antigens; Biologicals; Drugs
- Measurements
- overall: 2 1/8 in x 1 in; x 5.3975 cm x 2.54 cm
- place made
- United States: Maryland, Baltimore
- United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Medicine
- Health & Medicine
- The Antibody Initiative
- Antibody Initiative: Whooping Cough
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_716898
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ad-e68d-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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