The Discovery That Took 28 Years to Change Medicine

Early Research on Angiogenesis

• 💡 Initial goal was to find substances that could stop blood vessels, testing numerous large molecules.
• 🔬 Developed a rabbit eye assay to test potential inhibitors, which was published in Science.
• ⚠️ Without inhibitors, tumors grew aggressively and would eventually kill the animals.

Breakthrough Discovery

• 🎯 Identified one specific inhibitor fraction that significantly reduced blood vessels and prevented tumor growth in 60% of cases.
• 🔑 This discovery was the first demonstration of effective blood vessel inhibitors and provided a crucial bioassay for future studies.

Long Road to Clinical Application

• ⏳ Medical research translation is slow; it took 28 years from the initial paper for the first blood vessel inhibitor to receive FDA approval.
• 🚀 Starting in 2004, a series of blood vessel inhibitors began to be approved by the FDA.

Impact on Medicine

• ✅ Avastin was the first approved inhibitor and became one of the top-selling biotech drugs, used for various cancers.
• 👁️ These inhibitors also became the only pharmacological treatments for blindness-causing eye diseases like macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.
• 📈 The discoveries revolutionized treatment for cancer and eye diseases, transforming patient care and the pharmaceutical industry.