American Cyanamid was a large, diversified, American chemical

Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a pure chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical elements that can be separated into simpler substances by chemical reactions. Chemical compounds have a unique and defined chemical structure; they consist of a fixed ratio of atoms that are held together...

 manufacturer, founded by Frank Washburn in 1907. It was the only United States firm manufacturing the polio vaccine

Polio vaccine

Two polio vaccines are used throughout the world to combat poliomyelitis . The first was developed by Jonas Salk and first tested in 1952. Announced to the world by Salk on April 12, 1955, it consists of an injected dose of inactivated poliovirus. An oral vaccine was developed by Albert Sabin...

 of the Sabin

Albert Sabin

Albert Bruce Sabin was an American medical researcher best known for having developed an oral polio vaccine.-Life:...

 type.

Lederle Laboratories - maker of Centrum

Centrum (multivitamin)

Centrum is a brand of multivitamins produced by Wyeth, which is now a part of Pfizer.-External links:* *...

, Stresstabs vitamins and Orimune the Sabin oral polio vaccine - was Cyanamid's pharmaceutical division. Davis & Geck

Davis & Geck

Davis & Geck was a surgical/medical device company founded in 1909 by Charles T. Davis and Fred A. Geck originally located in Brooklyn, NY.It specialized in the development and manufacture of surgical sutures along with various other products in the wound closure, surgical technique, and aseptic...

 was the company's medical device division.