Bulgaria produced its first penicillin in 1954

On September 4, 1954, the first Bulgarian penicillin was produced. Tatyana Leontieva and engineer Petar Stoyanov successfully extracted the first crystals, an event marked by a factory siren in Razgrad.

Following this milestone, the antibiotic plant in Razgrad was officially opened on September 5. The facility eventually produced over 200 types of medicines. Bulgaria became the second country in the world to produce highly effective antibiotics such as tubomycin and tylosin. While initially serving domestic healthcare needs, the plant became a major exporter, shipping products to the Soviet Union, Western Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Australia. The first export of Bulgarian penicillin occurred in 1955, destined for China.