Adalat

As little as 30 years ago, cardiovascular research at Bayer was just a small sideline with in an environment dominated by chemotherapy research, and only 15 years ago, Bayer''s pharmaceutical business was confined to European and Latin Ameri­ can countries, with sales in cardiovascular pharmaceuticals close to zero. It goes without saying that Adalat has changed the company as a whole in its research, development, and marketing, both in Germany and, most importantly, world­ wide. In research and development, Adalat has led the way in to new areas such as hypertension, acute neurology, dementia, atherosclerosis, and heart failure. In pharmacology, Adalat was present at the dawning of the second phar­ macological revolution, which started out from whole animal models and progres­ sed, via in vitro screening and pharmacological research on the DHP receptor, down to the molecular level with the cloning of calcium-channel proteins. Having followed the Adalat story closely in its early years as a bench scientist, let me take this opportunity to thank the inventors, the scientists, and the investigators who have helped to tap the broad potential of calcium-channel blockade with dihyd­ ropyridines in general and Adalat in particular. But, success should not obscure our vision. There is no reason for us to rest on our laurels: it will take true innovations in cardiovascular research to top the gold standard set by Adalat. Let us take up the challenge.