Molecule Stories

The anticoagulant that dethroned warfarin and became the world's best-selling small molecule.

The latecomer statin that crushed its rivals to become the best-selling drug in history.

The $1,000-a-pill cure that ignited a global debate on the price of saving a life.

A second-generation androgen receptor blocker that rewrote the rules for prostate cancer.

The first BTK inhibitor transformed blood cancer from chemotherapy to a daily pill.

Bayer's direct Factor Xa inhibitor that helped end the warfarin era.

A diabetes drug that stunned cardiologists by preventing heart failure deaths.

The SGLT2 inhibitor that expanded from diabetes to kidney disease and heart failure.

The first drug to fix the broken protein behind cystic fibrosis, not just treat symptoms.

Half of a revolutionary heart failure combo that outperformed 30 years of standard care.

From the darkest drug disaster in history to a redemption story in cancer therapy.

A failed cancer drug, shelved for 20 years, became the first weapon against HIV.

A battlefield anaesthetic that became psychiatry's most important breakthrough in 50 years.

A blood pressure drug whose side effect launched a billion-dollar hair loss industry.

Inspired by a genetic anomaly in the Dominican Republic, this enzyme blocker treats baldness and prostate disease.

The first drug to cure a solid tumour, then reinvented as a cornerstone of autoimmune therapy.

The proton pump inhibitor that made ulcer surgery obsolete, then sparked an evergreening controversy.

The first billion-dollar drug, born from James Black's rational design of histamine blockers.

Valium defined the Age of Anxiety and proved that a safer sedative could change psychiatry.

A targeted leukotriene blocker that revolutionised asthma care, then revealed hidden psychiatric risks.

The molecule inside the first oral contraceptive that ignited a social revolution.

The rigid integrase inhibitor that made HIV treatment a single daily pill.