Pertussis "Topagen" Soluble Antigen
date: label: date made
content: ca 1947
name: label: maker
content: Sharp and Dohme
notes: label: Description
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Maryland, Baltimore
label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
label: See more items in
content: The Antibody Initiative
label: See more items in
content: Antibody Initiative: Whooping Cough
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Sharp & Dohme, Inc.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.177206.04
label: catalog number
content: 177206.04
label: accession number
content: 177206
objectType: label: Object Name
content: biological
label: Object Name
content: antigen, pertussis
label: Other Terms
content: Pertussis Topagen; Bacterial Antigens; Biologicals; Drugs
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/8 in x 1 in; x 5.3975 cm x 2.54 cm