Sausage poison described
Kerner, a German district medical officer and poet, published the first complete descriptions of food-borne botulism. He called the cause sausage poison and proposed that it might be used as a treatment.[1][2]
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History
From a sausage poison in the 1820s to the first cosmetic approval in 2002: the steps that made the treatment.
Timeline
Kerner, a German district medical officer and poet, published the first complete descriptions of food-borne botulism. He called the cause sausage poison and proposed that it might be used as a treatment.[1][2]
After a botulism outbreak at a funeral dinner of smoked ham in Ellezelles, Belgium, van Ermengem identified the bacterium Clostridium botulinum.[1]
Schantz supplied purified crystalline type A toxin, and Scott injected it into rhesus monkeys to treat strabismus. Scott and colleagues published pharmacologic weakening of eye muscles in 1973.[1][2][3]
Scott reported 67 toxin injections for strabismus with no systemic complications. Paralysis peaked 4 to 5 days after injection.[1]
The FDA licensed crystalline botulinum toxin type A in December 1989 for strabismus and blepharospasm in patients 12 and older.[1][2]
The Carruthers treated 18 patients for frown lines. Sixteen of the 17 followed improved for 3 to 11 months.[1]
On April 12, 2002, the FDA approved Botox Cosmetic for moderate to severe frown lines in adults under 65.[1]
Dysport was approved on April 29, 2009. Xeomin, approved in 2010 for other uses, added frown lines in July 2011.[1][2][3]
The FDA approved Botox Cosmetic for moderate to severe crow's feet on September 11, 2013.[1]
The FDA approved Botox Cosmetic for moderate to severe forehead lines on October 2, 2017.[1][2]
Jeuveau was approved on February 1, 2019, Daxxify on September 7, 2022 and Letybo on February 29, 2024.[1][2][3]
On October 18, 2024, the FDA approved Botox Cosmetic for moderate to severe platysma neck bands.[1]
People
Their work led to the products in use today.
German district medical officer and poet who first described food-borne botulism in full and proposed the toxin as a treatment.[1][2]
Professor of bacteriology at the University of Ghent who identified Clostridium botulinum.[1]
University of Wisconsin scientist who purified crystalline type A toxin for medical use and pioneered toxin treatment with Alan Scott in the early 1970s.[1][2][3]
Developed toxin injection as a nonsurgical treatment for strabismus, first in monkeys and then in people.[1][2][3]
Manufactured the first FDA-approved batches of crystalline type A toxin at the University of Wisconsin with Schantz.[1]
Ophthalmologist at the University of British Columbia. First author of the 1992 report of the toxin for frown lines and of the 2020 Daxxify phase 3 trials.[1][2][3]
Dermatologist at the University of British Columbia and co-author of the first report of the toxin for frown lines.[1][2]