When Eli Lilly's patent on Prozac (fluoxetine) expired in 2001, the company saw sales of the blockbuster drug plummet as the market opened up to competition from cheaper generic versions. In what some experts saw as a move to stem losses, Lilly began marketing fluoxetine for premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a severe form of PMS.
With the new use came a new brand: Sarafem. Pink-and-purple capsules in sunflower-bedecked packaging replaced the gender-neutral green and white of Prozac.
While studying a drug for heart-related chest pain in the 1990s, Pfizer researchers discovered that men who took it experienced a surprising side effect: erections. The drug proved ineffective for chest pain, but Viagra was born.
Pfizer later explored other uses for the drug, which relaxes blood vessels, and in 2005 the FDA approved it for pulmonary hypertension, under the brand name Revatio.
Latest Comments
drugs with multiple uses
Posted by Mark January 26, 2012 13:26:23