Thalidomide ([alpha]-N-[phthalimido] glutarimide) was first synthesized in 1953 by Ciba, a Swiss pharmaceutical firm, and then in 1954 by Kunz, a chemist at Chemie Grunenthal, a German pharmaceutical company.1,2 On October 1, 1957, Chemie Grunenthal introduced the drug into the market as a ...