- The first synthetic drug in history was Aspirin and its introduction occurred in 1897.
- While the most expensive drug in the world is Zolgensma and it was approved in 2019.
- It was designed to treat spinal muscular atrophy, a problem that affects one in 10,000 newborns.
The development of new drugs requires years of research. It is a long process in which the safety of the formula must be verified. An analysis of possible side effects is also done. In the end, only a minority manages to overcome all the stages to be able to be marketed. But now a strong controversy involving the most expensive drug in history.
What does it work for?
In this case we refer to the Zolgensma gene therapy Developed by Novartis. In 2019 he obtained permission from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be administered to patients.
The drug was designed to treat spinal muscular atrophy, a problem that affects one in 10,000 newborns. It is precisely because it is aimed at a rare disease that its price is so high. From the beginning, the manufacture of few units and only on request was contemplated.
Regarding the indications, It is administered intravenously and can only be received by people over two years of age. While it is considered the most expensive drug in the world because it costs two million dollars.
Story of what happened
But now the problem was that this medicine has been associated with the death of two patients due to acute liver failure. At the moment it cannot be confirmed that it was the direct culprit, but the pharmaceutical company itself acknowledged the fact. She also indicated that she will cooperate in the investigations until the cause of death is identified.
With regard to these unfortunate events, the only thing that has been reported is that they occurred in Russia and Kazakhstan. In both cases the deaths occurred shortly after five weeks of Zolgensma infusion and about 10 days after the start of corticosteroid taper.
For now, the company It has already notified all the health agencies in the world where the drug has been approved. Although he has also emphasized that hasty conclusions should not be drawn. While he stresses that the benefits outweigh the risks until proven otherwise.
Medicines, one of the greatest inventions in contemporary history
In hindsight, the World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that the first synthetic drug in history was aspirin and its introduction occurred in 1897. Since then, extraordinary progress has been made in relation to medicines for a wide range of health problems, including diseases, mental health disorders and of another nature.
As time has passed, everything has changed. There are now thousands of drugs on the market that can prevent, treat and alleviate the effects of ailments that would have been fatal just a few generations ago.
On the other hand, the abuse of drug use has caused phenomena such as antimicrobial resistance. Many that were previously highly effective now have diminished results and that means one of the most worrying threats to global health.
Also read:
The 5 most expensive drugs in the world: What does each one work for?
Meet the drug that will become the most expensive in history
Chart of the day: Countries where medicines are more expensive
