T.B. CURE?

Grey River Argus, 1 February 1946, Page 3

T.B. CURE?

LONDON, January 17. If the premises of the brilliant young Australian doctor, Ryan Worrall, are correct the tuberculosis scourge, which is still baffling medical science, may shortly be cured as easily as the common cold, says E. A. Hille, correspondent of “The Standard,” New Zealand. Following the publication in the “Medical World” of Worrall’s research, I secured for “The Standard” the first exclusive interview with this young scientist and heard at first hand not only the details of the new drug but the story of his lone struggle against the vested interests of the British Medical manufacturers who had been seeking to outwit him and secure for. themselves the proprietary nghts for the substance, which is likely to revolutionise medical therapy. Worrall’s drug is a compound of acrylic acid; like penicillin, it is a powerful bacteria killer, but has many advantages over penicillin. Firstly, while penicillin is only effective against the so-called grampositive organisms—abscesses, bloodpoisoning, pneumonia and so on—acrylic acid is effective even in the case of gramnegative organisms—dysentry, typhoid, kidney and bladder infections. Secondly, it can be made synthetically at a fraction of the cost of penicillin. Thirdly, unlike penicillin, which can be only administered in the form of injections acrylic acid can be taken in pill form. And. fourthly the factor lending such promise in the case of tuberculosis, it will penetrate oily compounds. What had made tuberculosis such a difficulty for medical scientists is the fact that the bacillus is coated with a thin layer of wax. \ Ordinary anti-bacteria agents are unable to penetrate this. In that respect the acrylic compound is revolutionary. Although Worrall’s drug has been tested in blood plasmas and on mice, and found effective in even such minute doses as one per hundred million, it has not yet been tested on humans. The reason for this, Worrall told mo, was the obstructionist attitude of chemical manufacturers. Worrall told me, “I began experiments two years ago with Darinderkne'cht, a Swiss employed in the Roche Laboratories, who was trying to discover a synthetic means of preparing I penicillin. When Roche realised wet had something, obstructionist methods were adopted against us. I quit and began co-operating with Professor W. H. Linnell. As the experiments proceeded and success seemed more and more certain, the chemical manufacturers became unwilling to supply drugs for carrying on the experiments. Realising we couldn’t get any further for the time being I decided to publish the results up to the present stage, hoping for encouragement elsewhere.” Worrall, who is an honours graduate of Sydney University, has already published several notable medical treatises, besides popular books on science. One, “Outlook of Science, was banned in Spain lor its “materialistic tendency.”