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There are a few challenges. Knowing / testing that the remedy actually works as advertised. Identifying the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). Isolating t
by pfisherman 3y ago
There are a few challenges. Knowing / testing that the remedy actually works as advertised. Identifying the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). Isolating the API. Testing whether is safe to administer in its pure form. Purifying or manufacturing the API with sufficient yield and quality at scale. Formulating with other compounds to optimize pharmacokinetics (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion). Testing whether the formulation of the API is effective. And then finally testing safety and effectiveness at scale. Also there are steps of figuring out how and why the API works. Failure at any one of these steps will kill development.
But it is not like this does not happen. Metformin is derived from French lilac. Just that it is much more difficult than it may appear.
- voisin 3y agoI don’t think OP is asking why the pharmaceutical drugs took so long to come along. I think he’s asking why there weren’t traditional medicine solutions for ED before pharmaceutical. I think the answer is that traditionally people were in better physical shape and more active - a huge amount of ED is caused by being out of shape, overweight, high blood pressure, etc. ED is the canary in the coal mine for a lot of physical (and mental) issues. On the mental side, I suspect people were traditionally less anxious than our modern society has made us.
- pfisherman 3y agoMaybe there just weren’t any that worked very well. Once upon a time I had the privilege of seeing an FDA database of adulterated herbal / nutritional supplements; and the most common thing in there by an overwhelming margin was supplements spiked with Viagra. When I asked why I was told, “Man has searched for an aphrodisiac for thousands of years, and we finally found one.”