site.bta70 Years Ago Thursday, the Balkan's First Penicillin Plant Opens in NE Bulgarian Town of Razgrad

On September 5, 1954 the Penicillin Plant in Razgrad was put into operation, making Bulgaria the first penicillin producers in the Balkans - and one of very few in the world.

The first crystals of Bulgarian penicillin were produced on September 4 by a team led by engineer Petar Stoyanov and Soviet specialists led by Tatyana Leontyevna.

The plant opened 25 years after the discovery of Scottish microbiologist Alexander Fleming (1928). Clinical application of penicillin began in 1942.

Over the years, the Penicillin Plant continuously increased the range of antibiotics it produced. Around 1979, Bulgaria was second in the world in production of the highly effective tubocin and tylosin. The plant established itself as a leading enterprise in the Pharmachim system, with a large share of its production exported to all continents.