Sanatogen was a " brain tonic" invented by the Bauer Chemical Company, in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

and sold worldwidePei-yin Lin and Weipin Tsai (eds) (2014), ''Print, Profit, and Perception: Ideas, Information and Knowledge in Chinese Societies, 1895-1949'', Brill Academic Pub, , pp.128-13

/ref> In the US it was advertised as a "nerve revitaliser". The medicine was prohibited in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1915 during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and a British-made substitute "Sanagen" was introduced to the Australian market the following year, claiming to be "identical to Sanatogen". The product became fashionable in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in the early 20th century and won the favour of many renowned people. The indications or uses for this product provided by the manufacturer were: "Food tonic. A concentrated nutrient with tonic properties... easily digested and absorbed and is recommended as an effective means of reinforcing the daily diet of anaemic and convalescent patients."

Product information

The ingredients have been described as: *pure milk protein 95% (drug active ingredients) * sodium glycerophosphate 5% (drug active ingredients)

Marketing

The product was marketed extensively in Europe and the US with such slogans as "Endorsed by over 20,000 Physicians".

Court case

In 1913 the product was at the centre of a

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case: '' Bauer & Cie. v. O'Donnell''. The product was also the subject of intellectual property litigation worldwide.

Other products

The Sanatogen brand persists in the UK as a

fortified wine Fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy, has been added. In the course of some centuries, winemakers have developed many different styles of fortified wine, including port, sherry, madeira, Marsala, Commanda ...

, with an alcohol content of 15%. Sanatogen is also the name of a modern

multivitamin A multivitamin is a preparation intended to serve as a dietary supplement with vitamins, dietary minerals, and other nutritional elements. Such preparations are available in the form of tablets, capsules, pastilles, powders, liquids, or injectable ...

product manufactured by

Fisons Fisons plc was a British multinational pharmaceutical, scientific instruments and horticultural chemicals company headquartered in Ipswich, United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Ind ...

before being sold to

Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX S ...

, and later

Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of busi ...

References

{{reflist Products introduced in 1898 Pharmaceutical industry Patent medicines