Farmitalia

Chain was first introduced to Farmitalia by D. Marotta in 1949, and several members of the company worked in his laboratory at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. One of the results of this collaboration was the development of methods for the production of a lysergic acid derivative (the ethoxamide) by submerged culture of Claviceps paspali.

Unfortunately, with the exception of some published papers, very little remains to document the first twenty years or so of the collaboration. But in Spring 1972, Chain signed a 3-year contract to act as a consultant to Farmitalia and Carlo Erba (q.v.) both by that time subsidiaries of Montecatini Edison (q.v.).

The period of his consultancy is quite well documented with correspondence, reports on work in progress, accounts of meetings, etc