Abstract
Felix Hoffman was a young chemist working at Bayer. Legend has it that his father, who was taking salicylic acid to treat his arthritis, complained to his son about its bitter taste. Felix responded by adding an acetyl group to salicylic acid to make acetylsalicylic acid. Heinrich Dreser, the Company's head of pharmacology, showed it to be analgesic, antipyretic, and anti-inflammatory.3 Bayer introduced the new drug as “aspirin” in 1899 and sales have increased ever since.