Sahachirō Hata

Sahachirō Hata was born on March 23rd, 1873. A prominent Japanese bacteriologist, he collaborated in the development of the drug Arsphenamine, in 1909, in Paul Ehrlich’s laboratory. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911 and for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1912 and 1913. In Germany, Hata was invited to learn about chemotherapy at the German National Institute for Experimental Therapeutics in Frankfurt. In return, Hata was able to instruct his technique of infecting rabbits with Treponema pallidum and assist Paul Ehrlich in the discovery of arsphenamine, which has proved effective in curing syphilis. The medication was called Salvarsan 606 because it was the 606th drug that Ehrlich tried.