In 1887 Nagajoshi Nagai (1845-1929), a Japanese researcher working in Germany, isolated ephedrine as the active ingredient of ma huang but found the substance to be highly toxic. In the 1920s, Chinese pharmacologist Ko Kuei Chen (1898-1988) and American pharmacologist Carl F. Schmidt (1893-1965), working at Peking Union Medical College, isolated ephedrine again. Chen and Schmidt, working with much smaller doses than Nagai, demonstrated ephedrine's value in treating heart disease and asthma. By 1927 Eli Lilly & Co. was manufacturing ephedrine on a large scale.
Lilly Syrup No. 110, Ephedrine Sulphate, 1932
Lilly Inhalant No. 20, Ephedrine Compound, 1932
Swan-Myers Ephedrine Inhalant No. 66, ca. 1940
(Courtesy National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution)
Source: NIH: Government information at NLM Web sites is in the public domain.
ephedrine In 1887 Nagajoshi Nagai (18451929), a Japanese researcher working in Germany, isolated ephedrine as the active ingredient of ma huang but found the substance to be highly toxic. In the 1920s, Chinese pharmacologist Ko Kuei Chen (18981988)