[Penicillin in Belgium 1945-1952].

Penicillin, discovered now eighty years ago (1929) by Alexander Fleming in London, was developed during the world war II into a revolutionizing drug by Howard Florey and Michael Chain in Oxford. At first, industrial production of penicillin was exclusively in the hands of a consortium of large U.S. pharmaceutical companies. However, the war being ended, European entrepreneurs likewise ventured to set up penicillin production units. Amongst them, in Belgium, was Jacques Lannoye, director and co-owner of 'Papeteries de Genval' and of a modest pharmaceutical company, called 'Soprolac'. Through his connections with several medical faculty professors of the Catholic University of Leuven, Lannoye came in touch with Piet De Somer, then a young researcher at the Leuven 'Institute of Bacteriology', with an interest in production of penicillin. A years-long collaboration followed, from which emerged a booming antibiotic and vaccine factory, 'RIT' (Recherche et Industrie Thérapeutiques) in Genval, as well an industry-supported research laboratory, the later Rega Institute, at the University of Leuven. From 1947 to 1952, while coping with the practical problems of setting up large-scale production of penicillin, De Somer maintained a lively correspondence with some other players in the field, sharing with them the ups and downs of the enterprise. Fortunately these letters have been preserved in the archives of the Rega Institute, such that they allow for a reconstruction of this interesting episode in the medical history of Belgium.