Friday, December 13, 2024 │18.00 – 20.30 (including apéro)
Goran Mijuk talks to Frank Petersen, the long-standing head of Novartis Natural Product Research, about his latest book “The Mystery in the Rye”. Using ergot as an example, he illustrates the complex connection between science, culture, and society. Gynergen, a medicine derived from ergot, was the first medicine developed by Sandoz itself in 1921 to treat postpartum haemorrhage and migraine, and thus formed an important basis for the development of our current Novartis pharmaceutical business. Years later, Sandoz chemist Albert Hofmann discovered the ergot alkaloid derivative LSD, which paved the way for psychopharmacology. These are just two important milestones that Frank Petersen explores in his book about the cultural history of ergot.