Friday

By doctors and pharmacists drug manufacturers are grouped under two categories --proprietary and "ethical," the distinction being that the former make medicines which are restricted from general manufacture by patent or copyright. Last week in Chicago a drug firm of each type made news through stock changes.

P:Abbott Laboratories, one of the "Big Four" makers of ''ethical" drugs,* began around the turn of the century when Dr. Wallace C. Abbott of Ravenswood started concocting his own alkaloid compounds in his kitchen because he was dissatisfied with those commercially available. In 1904 Dr. Alfred S. Burdick became associated with Dr. Abbott and both soon found all their energies taken up with their burgeoning drug business. Abbott Laboratories now occupy 27 buildings in North Chicago, have total assets of $8,846,000, made $1,415,000 last year of which $1,121,000 was paid out in cash dividends. Sales so far this year total some $8,000,000, about equal to all of last year's. To handle increasing inventories and new expansion without suffering under the undivided profits tax, Abbott stockholders last week authorized issuance of 50,000 shares of $100 preferred stock, of which only 20,000 will be issued immediately.

Abbott believes it is the largest U. S. maker of barbiturates, ephedrine products and arsenicals, also sells Haliver Oil, Metaphen, Chlorazene, Butyn" Estrone, some 1,200 other drugs grouped under such categories as vitamins, burn preparations, antiseptics, local anesthetics, hormones, pollens. Drs. Abbott & Burdick died years ago. President of Abbott Laboratories now is S. DeWitt Clough, who joined the company 33 years ago as sales manager, is still partial to high-pressure sales-technique. Also partial to good employe relations, he is generally popular with Abbott's 1,639 workers. They are about half as numerous as the rats Abbott always has on hand for experiment. Last week it was perhaps a good omen for Abbott's stock issue that a rat named Friday 5 #3 gave birth to 18 young, an Abbott record.

P:Consolidated Royal Chemical Corp., which makes such proprietary drugs as Zymole Trokeys, Peruna, Boal's Rolls and Kolor-Bak ("Why have gray hair?"), is an amalgamation of three companies, Royal Drug Co. and Consolidated Drug Trade Products, Inc., in Chicago, and Consolidated Drugs, Ltd. in Canada. All three are the creations and property of the four Hirschfield brothers, James, Nathan, Harold and Irving. In 1916 James at 27 and Nathan at 25 had saved $12,000 from their retail drugstore in the Maxwell Street slum area of Chicago where they were raised, went into the wholesale drug business. Last fiscal year their three companies had combined sales of over $5,000,000. profits of some $250,000. Last week they filed a statement with the Securities & Exchange Commission asking permission to sell 200,000 shares of stock with par value of $1 to the public through J. A. Sisto & Co. Reasons for the issuance are vague expectations of expansion, vague fears that inheritance taxes might be excessive in the event of a Hirschfield death unless the stock has a list value.

-The other three: Squibb; Parke Davis; Sharpe & Dohme.

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