The Pharmaceutical Industry

The pharamceutical industry is one of the biggest industries in the world and is steeped in history. The earliest pharmacies actually date back to the middle ages. Records show that the oldest drugstore was opened in Baghdad in the year 754AD. The medieval islamic world was the hub of the earliest medicines. The crusades meant that the knowledge of the middle east was then bought back to England and on the way back it spread throughout Europe.

The majority of the current world’s largest pharmaceutical companies were first established in the late 19th and early 20th century. There were many key medical discoveries made in the 1920’s and 30’s and the distribution of these new medicines made companies a lot of money.

As the industry got bigger, new legislation was introduced to distingiush between prescription and non-prescription medicines. Labelling had to be of a certain standard and so did packaging.

Today, the pharamceutical industry is worth over $600 Billion annually. It employs many people, from the obvious doctors and nurses to pharmaceutical recruiters and scientists.