A team of scientists at Oxford University in Britain discovered an article about Fleming's discovery of penicillin. In 1939, Howard Florey and Ernest Chain led the Oxford Group to research penicillin's ability to kill infectious diseases. After obtaining a culture of penicillium notatum, they grew penicillin and found its curative properties. They couldn't produce penicillin quantities needed for clinical trials. It took 2,000 Liters of mold culture to treat one case of sepsis.
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They sought help from America, unable to receive British help due to the country's involvement in World War II. The Oxford Group needed to find a way to mass produce penicillin and were referred to a lab in Peoria, Illinois for help.
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http://www.assignmentpoint.com/ The Oxford University Research Team
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http://www.npg.org.uk/ Oxford scientists analyzing penicillin information.

Ernest Chain

​Ernest Chain worked on isolating the chemical structure of penicillin and other natural antibiotics. He worked in bacteriology and biochemistry.

Howard Florey

His best-known work is his collaboration with Chain, when they conducted an investigation onthe properties of naturally occurring antibacterial substances. Florey also worked in bacteriology and biochemistry.

Norman Heatley

Heatley discovered how to remove active penicillin from a mold culture liquid. He found that ceramic bedpans culture penicillin mold the best. The team discovered that adding ether helped isolate penicillin. Heatley directed efforts to produce penicillin.
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http://www.nobelprize.org/
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http://nobelprize.org/
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/
​Florey, Chain, and Heatley demonstrated penicillin's curative effect in infectious diseases after Alexander Fleming's original discovery.