XP13512: Drug Development News

Most often, when you see articles about drugs with names such as XP13512, chances are that the drug never will sit on a pharmacy shelf.

In an earlier life, I was told that in some relatively nonindustrialized cultures, infants were not given names at birth. Infant mortality was so high, that the parents would wait until the child attained an age that gave a good chance of survival. Only then was it considered safe to give the child a name.

People in the drug development business will say that bringing a drug to market is a lot like giving birth. Except it takes a lot longer. Like the nonindustrialized peoples, the drug companies think it is bad luck to give real names to compounds that might not make it. So, they come up with names that imply no emotional attachment, names like XP13512.

XP13512 has a pretty good chance of making it, despite having no real name. In this post, I discuss the pharmacology of XP13512, and compare it to similar drugs that it will be in competition with. I also review some of the marketing intrigue that will arise. Read the rest at The Rest of the Story.