- American Cyanamid
American Cyanamid is a large, diversified, American chemical manufacturer, founded by Frank Washburn in 1907.Lederle Laboratories , maker ofCentrum andStresstabs vitamins, was Cyanamid'spharmaceutical division.Davis & Geck was the company's medical device division. In consumer products, its Shulton division madeOld Spice cologne, Breck shampoo andPine-Sol floor cleaner. Melmac was Cyanamid'strademark for plastic kitchenware. [http://www.seacoastonline.com/2003news/09242003/it/51835.htm]In its later life, the company frequently brushed up against the law for its environmental practices. In the process, it abandoned a number of
hazardous waste sites to the government, notably the Bound Brook and Bridgewater sites inNew Jersey .Portions of the company have been spun off to [http://www.criterioncatalysts.com/ Criterion Catalysts & Technologies] (
1988 , along with the catalyst businesses ofShell Oil Company and Shell International Chemical Company), American Home Products (1994 , nowWyeth ) andBASF (2000 ).The company was involved in a well-known legal case in the
United Kingdom which set the test for interiminjunction s inEngland andWales and set down what became known to lawyers as the "American Cyanamid" rules. [http://www.swarb.co.uk/c/hl/1975cyanamid_ethicon.html]External links
* [http://www.wyeth.com/ Wyeth web site]
* [http://www.basf.com/corporate/news2000/newsamericancyanamid.html BASF - partial acquisition of American Cyanamid in 2000]
* [http://www.criterioncatalysts.com/english/PDF/CCTReforming.pdf Criterion Catalysts & Technologies - introduction to Criterion's catalytic reforming] (mentions spin-off from American Cyanamid and the two Shell companies)
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