In 1897, researcher Arthur Eichengrum and Felix Hoffmann, a research assistant at Friedrich Bayer  Coin Germany, derivatized one of the hydroxyl functional groups in salicylic acid with an acetyl group (forming the acetyl ester), which greatly reduced the negative effects. This was the first synthetic drug, not a copy of something that existed in nature, and the start of the pharmaceuticals industry. Hoffmann made some of the formula and gave it to his father, who was suffering from the pain of arthritis and could not stand the side effects of salicylic acid. With good results, he then convinced Bayer to market the new wonder drug. Aspirin was patented on March 6, 1899.It was m,n'keted alongside another of Hoffmann's products, an acetylat:k ,ynv:; esis of morphine called Heroir: that he invented 11 days after AsC,uin. Heroin was initially the more successful of the two painkfflers and the common belief that it was healthier than Aspirin stepped to the forefront. Aspirin was originally sold as a powder (still the preferred form in many European countries) and was an instant success; in 1915, Bayer introduced Aspirin tablets.