[Sigia-l]

[Tanya Rabourn]

On Wed, 12 Jul 2006, David (Heller) Malouf wrote:

> I'll add
>
> Viagara

Think that was more of an unintended consequence.

>From the NYT April 5, 1998: "Dr. Ian Osterloh was directing
the development of Viagra, which was supposed to help men
suffering chest pains from heart disease. But the drug did
not work, and by 1992 Pfizer was about to consign it to the
discard pile. But Dr.  Osterloh ... had a flash of
inspiration...It seemed that some men who had taken Viagra
for their hearts reported an odd side effect..."

In that same article, entitled "Ideas & Trends;  Drugs That
Deliver More Than Originally Promised" it also mentions
botulism toxin (Botox) as well as Minoxidil which has a
story similar to Viagra. I think there's probably a
difference between over-delivering and not achieving the
intended application but a serendipitous discovery of a
completely different application makes it successful anyway.

-Tanya