The unlikely story of how a toxic toxin became the blockbuster anti-wrinkle blockbuster treatment Botox, Business Insider



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Howard Sobel, a dermatologist and dermatologist surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, explains how Botox or other anti-wrinkle drugs are applied using a syringe on a patient at his New York office. March 22, 2013.

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Howard Sobel, a dermatologist and dermatologist surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, explains how Botox or other anti-wrinkle drugs are applied using a syringe on a patient at his New York office. March 22, 2013.
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REUTERS / Mike Segar
  • Botox, the drug known for smoothing wrinkles, has taken more than a decade to reach its potential.
  • Doctors began to understand that after botulinum toxin A treatment, patients had "pretty expressions without trouble."
  • Here is the story of Botox's under-researched toxicity to a star drug used by millions of people.
  • To hear the full story of Botox, subscribe to Business Insider's "Last Name" podcast.

Mitchell Brin has a license plate that says "Botox".

Brin's has been researching Botox since 1984 and is currently the Botox Scientific Director of Allergan Pharmaceuticals. This is one of many Botox-related license plates, including some of the more scientific brands, such as the "Snap-25" tag. This is a reference to a botulinum toxin A-affected protein, which allows for a smoother forehead when used at the right dose.

"Botox is a major component of my life," Brin told Business Insider.

Brin is one of the scientists who has been considering Botox since its inception as a potential treatment for muscle disorders until it is today – a leading pharmaceutical drug known for its aesthetic uses such as smoothing facial wrinkles patients.

Here's how a toxic toxin has become a successful treatment for everything from wrinkles to migraines.

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Researchers have investigated whether botulinum toxin, a neurotoxin that acts by paralyzing parts of the body, can be used for the treatment of muscle diseases from the 1970s.


Yes, it's a toxin – even the deadliest on Earth. Botulinum toxin is a byproduct of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, the same implicated in junk food.

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This illustration represents a computer-generated three-dimensional (3D) image of a group of Clostridium sp. Anaerobic and spore-forming. organizations.
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CDC

Source: The conversation


In the 1980s, Vancouver-based ophthalmologist Jean Carruthers was treating people with eyelid issues with Botox injections when a patient became angry with her. . She wanted to know why Carruthers had not given him an injection near his forehead. Carruthers explained that it was because she did not spate there, but the patient insisted. "Every time you treat me there, I get that beautiful expression without trouble," she told Carruthers.

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Mark Mainz / Getty Images

Ms. Carruthers reported the information of her visit to her husband Alistair, who worked in dermatology. She told him that she could have a solution for her patients who were struggling with their frown lines. He was skeptical, but curious to see him at work. The next day, they tested it on their receptionist.

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A Botox vial and a syringe are visible in Dr. Lia Papadavid's office in Athens, Greece on December 12, 2017.
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Reuters / Costas Baltas

Jean was next to try it. The result? "Jean has not frowned since 1987," Alistair told Business Insider.

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Jean and Alistair Carruthers
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Courtesy of Jean and Alistair Carruthers

Over the next decade, the Carruthers continued their research and published articles on the cosmetic use of Botox. Botox became so popular that at some point in 1997, the US ran out of supplies, causing panic among those who used this treatment every month to reduce wrinkles.

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REUTERS / Mike Segar

Source: The New York Times


On the other side of North America, Brin found the same results in patients he treated for involuntary muscle contraction. After more than a decade of research on the use of Botox at Columbia University and Mount Sinai, he joined Allergan in 2001.

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Mitchell Brin, Scientific Director of Botox at Allergan
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Courtesy Allergan

Botox was not immediately understood by Allergan, the company that owns the drug. It started to change when David Pyott became CEO in 1998.

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Allergan 's current CEO, Brent Saunders (left), and Allergan' s former CEO, David Pyott, pose together in front of the New York Stock Exchange on November 17, 2014.
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Reuters

It was not until 2002 that Botox Cosmetic officially obtained FDA approval. Since then, he has become a star drug for Allergan. In 2017 alone, the drug generated $ 2.2 billion in revenue for both cosmetic and medical uses.


Today, he treats everything from crow's feet to migraine and overactive bladder. He is currently being studied in the treatment of depression.

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A human brain and its millions of small nerves
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Johan Swanepoel / Shutterstock

Source: Allergan


To face the competition, Allergan's plan to stay ahead and grow the Botox market is to make the treatment as common as hair removal or hair coloring. The plan also relies on the fact that the millennial generation is adopting medical aesthetic schemes, which has led Allergan to launch a campaign that asks the question "Are you a curious?

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Via Allergan

Source: Business Insider


To learn more about how Botox has become a way to change expressions and appearances, listen to "Household Name," a new Business Insider podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or your favorite podcast app.

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Reuters / Jim Young

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