The development of the pharmaceutical industry and apothecary in the period of the Second Polish Republic was conditioned by the legacy remaining under the law in force in the territories under partitions located on Polish lands until 1918. It was a system based on granting concessions, primarily hereditary. The main problem for the development of pharmacy, alongside the backward and destroyed pharmaceutical industry as a result of the First World War, was the lack of unitary law in force throughout the country. This situation was changed by the Act on the Exercise of the Pharmaceutical Profession and the Law on Pharmaceutical Chambers adopted in 1938 and in 1939. Despite protectionist state policy, during interwar period, the pharmaceutical industry has developed, as evidenced by the actions of businesses from so called The Big Four. This allowed for a partial independence of imports. The development of pharmaceutical education and the growth of educated pharmacy staff as well as the growing number of pharmacies should also be considered a success.

Keywords: pharmaceutical legislation, pharmacies, pharmaceutical industry, history of medicine, Poland.