{"id":569709,"date":"2026-04-07T11:57:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/569709\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:57:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:57:08","slug":"6-drugs-invented-for-one-thing-but-now-treat-another","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/569709\/","title":{"rendered":"6 drugs invented for one thing \u2014 but now treat another"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just think, we may have never gotten the \u201cOh, oh, oh, Ozempic!\u201d jingle<\/a> stuck in our heads if it wasn\u2019t for a creepy, bottom-dwelling fish.<\/p>\n

Dr. Joel Habener of Massachusetts General Hospital unexpectedly discovered<\/a> GLP-1 in\u00a0the 1980s while analyzing the pancreatic genes in anglerfish.<\/p>\n

Habener\u2019s team identified the precursor to GLP-1, a hormone that regulates blood sugar by boosting insulin and suppressing glucagon after meals, laying the groundwork for the drugs we now know<\/a> as Ozempic, Zepbound and Trulicity.<\/p>\n

You can thank this ugly fish for any weight loss or blood sugar management you experienced on GLP-1s. lapis2380 \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

GLP-1s are proving useful beyond their role in taming diabetes and triggering weight loss. Studies indicate benefits to everything from chronic kidney disease<\/a> and sleep apnea to alcohol addiction<\/a> because of their ability to reduce inflammation and improve organ health independent of weight loss.<\/p>\n

GLP-1 isn\u2019t the only serendipitous breakthrough. Many groundbreaking drugs were discovered by accident or during research for completely different uses \u2014 the antibiotic penicillin was found via mold-contaminated bacteria, while chlorpromazine was developed to prevent surgical shock and later repurposed as an antipsychotic for schizophrenia.<\/p>\n

Research from 2012<\/a> reported that the discovery of 6% of FDA-approved drugs involved serendipity \u2014 here\u2019s a look at six of them.<\/p>\n

Viagra<\/p>\n

Pfizer developed the little blue pill (scientific name: sildenafil) in the late 1980s to address chest pain and high blood pressure.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t found to be effective for angina pectoris, but it had one very eye-popping side effect: enhanced erections.<\/p>\n

The FDA approved Viagra for erectile dysfunction in 1998. The drug has also been shown<\/a> to improve blood flow to the lungs and lower blood pressure.<\/p>\n

Minoxidil<\/p>\n

Minoxidil<\/a> has worn many hats. It was developed in the 1950s to treat peptic ulcers but was ultimately unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

Just imagine that minoxidil was once intended for the stomach lining, not the head. Elena \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Then it was branded as the antihypertensive Loniten and approved by the FDA in 1979 to treat severe high blood pressure.<\/p>\n

Scientists noticed that people who took the drug experienced unexpected hair growth on their heads and bodies. Minoxidil was rebranded as topical Rogaine in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

Botox<\/p>\n

Before it became a staple in Hollywood skincare regimens, Botox was initially approved by the FDA in 1989 for crossed eyes, uncontrollable eyelid twitching<\/a> and facial nerve disorders.<\/p>\n

OnabotulinumtoxinA was later found to help reduce cosmetic wrinkles<\/a> while showing potential for the treatment of chronic migraines, severe underarm sweating and overactive bladders.<\/p>\n

AZT<\/p>\n

Zidovudine was developed as a chemotherapy drug in the 1960s and promptly shelved when it failed to combat tumor growth in mice.<\/p>\n

It reemerged in the 1980s as AZT, the first FDA-approved antiretroviral drug for HIV\/AIDS treatment.<\/p>\n

The failed chemotherapy drug turned out to be a boon for HIV\/AIDS treatment. luchschenF \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Thalidomide<\/p>\n

Thalidomide has cycled through a few redesigns. A German pharmaceutical company synthesized it in the 1950s for insomnia and morning sickness in pregnant women.<\/p>\n

Then it was linked to severe birth defects in thousands of babies and withdrawn from the market.<\/p>\n

It has since emerged as a remedy for leprosy complications, and now it\u2019s used for treating the rare blood cancer multiple myeloma and lupus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Metformin<\/p>\n

You may know metformin as a diabetes drug. It actually used to be an antimalarial agent and a treatment for influenza.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s being studied for its potential anti-aging properties<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just think, we may have never gotten the \u201cOh, oh, oh, Ozempic!\u201d jingle stuck in our heads if…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[40398,985,246,3436,39633,97,13300,243,686,249,2824,79,156113,3458],"class_list":{"0":"post-569709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-botox","9":"tag-diabetes","10":"tag-fda","11":"tag-glp-1","12":"tag-hair-loss","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-hiv-aids","15":"tag-medication","16":"tag-medicine","17":"tag-ozempic","18":"tag-prescription-drugs","19":"tag-science","20":"tag-viagra","21":"tag-weight-loss"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}