How was Antabuse discovered?
Antabuse is a product of Odyssey Pharmaceuticals. Antabuse known by its scientific name Disulfiram, is a medicine that was approved in 1951 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) for the treatment of alcoholism. It deters the drinker’s craving for alcohol by causing extremely unpleasant symptoms upon alcohol consumption. Danish researchers Eric Jacobsen (1903-) and Jens Hald discovered Antabuse accidentally in 1947. At the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy in Copenhagen, Jacobsen and Hald were studying compounds for possible use in treating stomach infections. One of the compounds was disulfiram. As was common among researchers during those days, both men took a small dose of disulfiram to check for possible side effects. At a cocktail party several days later, both men became very ill after having a drink. Because each experienced the same symptoms at the same time, they concluded that the disulfiram, triggered by the alcohol, was responsible for the illness. They quickly condu
