OUR HISTORY
In the year 1920 the National Assembly ordered the Czechoslovakian Government to make the Ministry of Health built a State Health Institute. Based on an invitation of the Minister Dr. Vavro Šrobár, the director of Rockefeller's foundation, Mr. Russell, has personally participated in the creation of the conception. The foundation at those times helped new states to build modern post-war health care systems. The government approved the conception in year 1921 and concluded a contract with Rockefeller’s foundation, which determined the contribution of the foundation to a total amount of app. 27 millions CZK, the state invested 25.7 million CZK. A piece of land was purchased from the Vinohradská Savings Bank, which was located between the current streets Korunní and Ruská, in a total area of 12.5 ha for 3.45 millions CZK.
A great success of the ministry prior to building the institute was an acquisition of MUDr. Bohuslav Feierabend, a contemporary great specialist in imunobiology and a great administrator, for the idea to specialise in imunobiological production. Under his guidance, a provisional production was initiated in 1922 and experience was very useful when the State Health Institute was inaugurated in 1925. In that time, it was one of the most modern in Europe. The first director was MUDr. Pavel Kučera and Dr. Feierabend became the chief of the Department of Production of prophylactic and therapeutic sera and vaccination substances. The first sera were produced in the Institute in 1926 and since the very beginning; it had to overcome distrust of the medical public and non-critical admiration for foreign products. Since there was no state control on drugs, controls were accomplished abroad; later on it was performed in an own control department.
The regulations from that time did not permit the State Health Institute to do business alone, but only through a representative pharmacy. The Institute has chosen a renowned Schnöbling pharmacy in the Small Square (it still exists and it is functional again under the same original name). Important was building of the base for production of sera on animals in Bohumile by Kostelec nad Černými Lesy, where the Institute purchased an estate from the Lichtenstein family. The first stage in the activity of the State Health Institute may be delimitated by the beginning of the 30's, when it was possible to gradually change the immunobiologic thinking of physicians, achieve recognition abroad and increase sales significantly – in 1930 it was 2.7 million CZK. The main building of the State Health Institute was completed in the same year.
In the beginning of 30’s, the Institute has achieved success abroad, e.g. with anti-tetanic serum, exported to Germany, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and to the Middle East. Serum against diphtheria, vaccine against typhoid fever and paratyphoid for the army are produced and production of insulin is being considered. This thought was left, as it was proved that it is more convenient to buy polish insulin and adjust it in the State Health Institute. From this point there was a direct way to cooperation between similar Institutes in Poland and Yugoslavia and so called „serum agreement“. This agreement consisted in division of the market and production so that each institute specialized on preparations, for which they have a better raw material basis or they reach the greatest quality in these, so that preparations with small consumption were produced only in one site and research was divided efficiently. Supervising bodies have approved the agreement and it brought great results.
In 1934 the trend to achieve independence in material and technical basis was becoming stronger, mainly for defensive reasons. The Institute was producing already several preparations – e.g. against tetanus, rabies, measles, sera against pneumococci, meningococci; started research and preparation of allergens, initially against hay fever. In 1938, production of mixed vaccine against diphtheria, scarlet fever and whooping cough is starting..
Year 1938 is the most successful; the income for supplies for public production (without serum union) was almost 5.2 million CZK. In 1938 is the control department, which performed state control, set apart and included to the newly established State Institute for Drug Control.
After the occupation, the institute kept a kind of independency due to its good pre-war relations on professional level especially with Behringwerke as its sub-supplier. One of the goals was to keep a possibility to supply the civil sector, despite strong pressures to transfer the production mainly to the supplies of wehrmacht (e.g. production of a bacteriophage against dysentery). It also proved imprudent to reject the proper production of insulin, when supplies from Poland occupied by Germans stopped.
After the war, the Institute had to overcome the backwardness; one of the means were studying stays abroad. There were calls for building of a new immunobiological production; many substances had to be imported and sometimes the domestic requirements could not be satisfied. Major changes came in year 1949.