Which drug was the first effective treatment for syphilis?

Salvarsan was the first effective drug treatment for syphilis.

Paul Ehrlich and his assistant Sahachiro Hata developed Salvarsan, also called arsphenamine, in 1909. It was introduced commercially in 1910 after testing among a large series of arsenic compounds. The drug was designed to attack the syphilis bacterium while causing less harm than earlier arsenic preparations.

Salvarsan was a major milestone in chemotherapy, the idea of treating infection with a chemical agent that selectively harms the pathogen. It was not simple or risk-free: treatment required injections, careful preparation and medical supervision.

Penicillin later became the preferred treatment for syphilis because it was more effective, safer and easier to use. That later success can cause confusion, but penicillin was not the first effective syphilis drug. Salvarsan’s importance lies in both its clinical impact and its role in establishing modern antimicrobial drug development.