Development and marketing of thalidomide
Desarrollo y comercialización de la talidomida
- Date
- 1953-1961 · confidence high
- Place
- Stolberg, Germany
- Credited to
- Heinrich Mückter (Chemie Grünenthal)
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Under the direction of Heinrich Mückter, the German laboratory Chemie Grünenthal developed and marketed thalidomide from 1957 as an over-the-counter sedative and antiemetic (Contergan), also prescribed to pregnant women against morning sickness, before its severe teratogenic effect was demonstrated.
Mückter's personal responsibility, a former military researcher under Nazism, in developing and concealing the drug's risks remains a matter of historical controversy; thalidomide was later reintroduced, under strict control, to treat leprosy and certain cancers.
What it led to
- one of the greatest pharmaceutical catastrophes of the 20th century, affecting more than 10,000 children with malformations
- withdrawal of the drug from most markets in 1961
- a radical overhaul of drug safety and testing regulations, especially regarding pregnancy