Epinephrine (medication)

Epinephrine became the first hormone isolated in pure form in 1901, a milestone that required the convergence of organic chemistry techniques, glandular physiology, and commercial pharmaceutical manufacturing. The adrenal glands had long been known to produce something powerful—extracts could raise blood pressure and constrict blood vessels—but isolating the active substance proved elusive.

Jokichi Takamine, a Japanese biochemist working in New York, succeeded where others had failed. His approach combined traditional Japanese expertise in fermentation chemistry with American industrial resources. Working with assistant Keizo Uenaka, Takamine isolated the hormone from sheep and ox adrenal glands in crystalline form, publishing his results in early 1901.

The path dependence in naming reveals the competitive dynamics. American pharmacologist John Jacob Abel had isolated an impure derivative in 1897, calling it 'epinephrine.' Takamine named his pure crystalline form 'adrenalin' and immediately moved to patent both the isolation process and the product itself—filing five patents on November 5, 1900, before publishing any scientific papers. Parke, Davis & Company trademarked 'Adrenalin' in the U.S. in 1906.

This commercial strategy had lasting linguistic consequences. Because 'Adrenalin' was trademarked, American scientific literature adopted 'epinephrine' as the generic term, while British English retained 'adrenaline.' The dual naming persists today, a fossil record of early pharmaceutical capitalism.

Takamine's isolation method represented a keystone innovation in pharmacology. For the first time, a hormone could be produced consistently at industrial scale. The medication entered clinical use in 1905 and proved effective for asthma, anaphylaxis, and cardiac arrest. It remains on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.

The commercialization model Takamine pioneered—patenting isolation methods before academic publication, licensing to established pharmaceutical companies—established patterns that would shape the industry for the next century. The adjacent possible had aligned: chemistry could isolate complex biologicals, physiology understood their function, and industry could scale production.