Botox® – the development of

Dr Singh who runs his botox clinic in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in his latest blog shares his thoughts on the development of botox over the years.
The Development of Botox^®
Botulinum toxin is a purified protein originated from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The bacterium was founded in 1895 and has been researched for over 100 years.
Development Timeline
1895 – The bacterium Clostridum botulinum (previously known as Bacillus botulinum) was founded my Professor Emile Pierre van Ermengem.
1920 – Merman Sommer M.D stabilised Botulinum Toxin Type A. He isolated the purified form as a stable acid precipitate. This was undertaken at the University of California, San Francisco.
1946 – Edward J Schantz Ph.D and his colleagues, for the first time successfully purified Botulinum Toxin A into crystalline form. This gave scientists the raw material to allow them to study the molecule in detail.
1950s – The biggest research undertook was by Vernon Brooks, M.D into Botulinum Toxin Type A, this created very positive results. He discovered that when Botulinum Toxin was injected into an hyperactive muscle, it blocked the release of acetylcholine from the motor nerve endings; this induced a temporary reduction in the targeted muscle activity. This new revelation created new interest in Botulinum Toxin Type A as a potentially significant therapeutic agent.
1960s and 1970s – Alan B Scott’s M.D involvement in the research for Botulinum Toxin Type A for muscle disorders accelerated in the late 1960’s and the toxin was tested on animals. Dr Scott’s hypothesized that the drug may be an effective therapy for cross eyes. Dr Scott’s discovered that by injecting a small amount of Botulinum Toxin into the hyperactive ocular muscles in monkeys he was able to realign cross eyes associated with strabismus.
After this discover, and for the next 20 years Dr Scott and Dr Schantz developed Botulinum Toxin Type A for human treatment. Dr Scott’s created his own company called Oculinum Inc, in the late 1970’s; this is where he continued to study Botulinum Toxin type in human volunteers.
1988 – Allergan, Inc gained the rights to circulate Dr Scott’s Botulinum Toxin Type A product known as Oculinum.
1989 – Oculinum Inc, received the very first approval by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of uncontrollable eye blinking in people over 12 years old. After this first approval, Allergan acquired Oculinum, Inc and with the approval from the FDA changed the product name to BOTOX.
2000 – FDA gave their approval for patients to use Botox^® if there were or had an abnormal head position and neck pain that occurs with cervical dystonia (CD) in people over the age of 16.
2002 – Allergan received FDA approval to market and use Botox^® cosmetic to improve frown lines between the eyebrows (glabellar lines) in people over the age of 16.
2004 – July 2004, within the United States they were given approval to use Botox^® to treat patients over the age of 18 with serve underarm sweating.
2010 – In March, the FDA gave approval for Botox^® to be used for the treatment of increased muscle stiffness in the elbow, wrist and fingers for patient over the age of 18.

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