Between 1941 and 1943 , Moyer , Coghill and Raper at the USDA Northern Regional Research Laboratory ( NRRL ) in Peoria , Illinois , United States , developed methods for industrialized penicillin production and isolated higher-yielding strains of the '' Penicillium '' fungus . In December 1942 , survivors of the Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston were the first burn patients to be successfully treated with penicillin . Simultaneous research by Jasper H. Kane and other Pfizer scientists in Brooklyn developed the practical , deep-tank fermentation method for production of large quantities of pharmaceutical-grade penicillin
Cocoanut Grove fire
Cocoanut Grove fire
History of penicillin