From khellin to sodium cromoglycate--a tribute to the work of Dr. R. E. C. Altounyan (1922-1987).

Sodium cromoglycate, which was launched in 1968 by the British company Fisons for the treatment of allergies and asthma, was an absolute novelty in chemical, pharmacological as well as therapeutic respects. The khellin derivative meanwhile did not owe its discovery to the usual strategies for finding drugs. On the contrary, the protective effect of the substance was discovered in a self trial through systematic antigen-induced provocation tests of the medicinal doctor and allergic Roger Ernest Collingwood Altounyan (1922-1987). The only subsequently formed hypothesis of a mast cell stabilising effect of Sodium cromoglcycate did not prove to be valid for the search for similar or more effective substances. A further development of this drug class could not take place because of the lack of suitable pharmacological models.