Drugs
The Drugs (40)
Methylene Blue
A 19th-century dye turned approved antidote, studied off-label for memory and mitochondria; combined with antidepressants it can cause serotonin syndrome.
Read the deep dive →Ivermectin
The Nobel-winning antiparasitic from a Japanese soil microbe, used against river blindness, strongyloidiasis and scabies; the large COVID-19 trials found no benefit.
Read the deep dive →Aspirin
A century-old drug that irreversibly blocks the cyclooxygenase enzymes, studied for heart attack and stroke prevention, pain, fever and colorectal cancer, with bleeding risks.
Read the deep dive →Metformin
The most prescribed type 2 diabetes pill worldwide, a biguanide traced to goat's rue, also researched for longevity, which remains unproven.
Read the deep dive →Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists
Drugs that mimic the gut hormone glucagon-like peptide-1, studied for blood sugar, weight loss, heart and kidney outcomes, alongside side effects and muscle loss.
Read the deep dive →Dimethyl Sulfoxide
A solvent made from wood-pulp by-products; approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration only as a bladder solution for interstitial cystitis; trials of skin use for pain disagree; it carries other substances through skin.
Read the deep dive →Ibogaine
The alkaloid from the root bark of the African shrub Tabernanthe iboga: its ceremonial and research history, how it acts in the brain, and the published heart-rhythm findings.
Read the deep dive →Fenbendazole
A veterinary deworming drug drawing anticancer interest from anecdotal cases and lab studies; no formal human trials had been registered as of 2025.
Read the deep dive →Mebendazole
A poorly absorbed worm medicine used for roundworm, whipworm, hookworm and pinworm, and in school deworming; studied in brain-tumor and colon-cancer trials.
Read the deep dive →Oxantel Pamoate
A whipworm medicine tested in children with albendazole, ivermectin and moxidectin, and in the laboratory and in mice against Porphyromonas gingivalis, a leading gum-disease bacterium.
Read the deep dive →Albendazole
The worm medicine absorbed well enough to reach tissue cysts: approved for neurocysticercosis and hydatid disease, and given by the hundreds of millions in deworming and filariasis programmes.
Read the deep dive →Praziquantel
The one medicine for schistosomiasis, also used for liver flukes and tapeworms; how it works, mass treatment programmes, a new children's formulation and the resistance research.
Read the deep dive →Acoltremon
An eye drop that switches on the cornea's cold receptor TRPM8 to raise natural tear flow: the Nobel-winning science, the COMET trials and Schirmer results, burning on instillation, reports since approval, and the 2025 US approval.
Read the deep dive →Activated Charcoal
Heat-activated carbon powder that binds certain swallowed poisons in emergency care; its popular detox, gas and whitening claims have little evidence.
Read the deep dive →Cabergoline
Cabergoline, the twice-weekly ergot-derived dopamine agonist that lowers prolactin: the 1994 bromocriptine trial, remission after stopping, acromegaly and breast-milk uses, the Parkinson's heart-valve findings, the label's echocardiogram rule and the pregnancy data.
Read the deep dive →Clozapine
The only antipsychotic approved for treatment-resistant schizophrenia and for reducing suicidal behaviour; its history, trial evidence, boxed warnings, blood monitoring and the 2025 end of the US safety programme.
Read the deep dive →Cyclobenzaprine
A muscle relaxant related to the tricyclic antidepressants, labelled for short-term muscle spasm; a low-dose bedtime under-the-tongue tablet was approved for fibromyalgia in August 2025.
Read the deep dive →Efgartigimod Alfa
An antibody fragment that blocks the receptor which recycles IgG antibodies, lowering harmful autoantibodies. Approved for myasthenia gravis (2021) and CIDP (2024); trials in immune thrombocytopenia and pemphigus, including two that found no benefit; infections, vaccines and pregnancy.
Read the deep dive →Elinzanetant
A nonhormonal bedtime pill for menopausal hot flashes that blocks two neurokinin receptors, approved in the US in October 2025; what the OASIS trials found and what the label requires.
Read the deep dive →Enfortumab Vedotin
An antibody that finds Nectin-4 on bladder cancer cells and carries a cell-killing payload inside: the FDA approvals from 2019 to 2026, the EV-201, EV-301, EV-302 and before-and-after-surgery trial results, and the label's skin, nerve, blood-sugar, eye and lung warnings.
Read the deep dive →Finerenone
A non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor blocker labelled for kidney disease with type 1 or type 2 diabetes and for heart failure with ejection fraction of 40% or more; the FIDELIO, FIGARO, FINEARTS-HF and CONFIDENCE trials and the potassium rules.
Read the deep dive →Isotretinoin
A vitamin A derivative labelled for severe nodular acne: how it shrinks oil glands, the 1985 birth-defect findings behind its boxed warning and pregnancy programme, and what mood research shows.
Read the deep dive →Istradefylline
The adenosine blocker for Parkinson’s disease “off” episodes: trials, FDA history and label cautions.
Read the deep dive →Oveporexton
The first orexin receptor 2 agonist for narcolepsy type 1: trial numbers, FDA 2026 approval and side effects.
Read the deep dive →Lumasiran
The RNA medicine for primary hyperoxaluria type 1: gene silencing in the liver, the ILLUMINATE trials and label facts.
Read the deep dive →Belzutifan
The HIF-2 alpha blocker: von Hippel-Lindau tumours, kidney cancer, paraganglioma, trial numbers and label hazards.
Read the deep dive →Tauroursodeoxycholic Acid
Trial-by-trial record of this bile acid, from bear bile to liver, insulin and nerve disease studies, including the failed phase 3 trial in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Read the deep dive →Dupilumab
How dupilumab blocks the interleukin-4 and interleukin-13 signal, the pivotal trial numbers across nine label uses, and published reports on eye, joint, skin, lymphoma and eosinophil effects.
Read the deep dive →Brensocatib
The once-daily pill approved in 2025 for bronchiectasis: how it lowers neutrophil enzymes, what WILLOW and ASPEN found, and its skin and gum findings.
Read the deep dive →Moxidectin
The 2018 single-dose river-blindness drug from ivermectin's wider family, with its phase 3 skin-larvae numbers, Loa loa warning, weeks-long half-life and trials in other infections.
Read the deep dive →Fosdenopterin
A daily intravenous replacement for a molecule that babies with molybdenum cofactor deficiency type A cannot make, approved in 2021, with survival against natural history and the brain injury it does not reverse.
Read the deep dive →Vosoritide
A daily injection for children with achondroplasia that counters the overactive growth-plate brake: the phase 3 growth figures, the label's side-effect table, the under-five trial and what is still unknown about adult height.
Read the deep dive →Afamitresgene Autoleucel
The first engineered T-cell receptor therapy, approved in 2024 for synovial sarcoma: how a patient's own T cells are reprogrammed against MAGE-A4, the trial response figures, the boxed warning and how it differs from CAR-T.
Read the deep dive →Retifanlimab
A PD-1 blocking antibody approved for Merkel cell carcinoma and, in 2025, for advanced anal cancer with chemotherapy: the trial survival figures, the label's immune side-effect rates and what is not known.
Read the deep dive →Methotrexate
One drug at two very different doses: how the low weekly dose works in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, the trials, folic acid alongside it, the daily-dosing error, and the label's monitoring, pregnancy and interaction facts.
Read the deep dive →Palopegteriparatide
A once-daily parathyroid hormone replacement for hypoparathyroidism: the PaTHway trial and label figures, results out to 3.5 years, the label's warnings and what happens when doses are missed or stopped.
Read the deep dive →Liothyronine (T3)
Synthetic T3 and what the trials show about adding it to levothyroxine: the label and boxed warning, how many patients preferred combination therapy, the deiodinase gene hypothesis, desiccated thyroid trials and safety findings.
Read the deep dive →Acarbose
The starch-blocking diabetes drug: the label's gut and liver-enzyme figures, STOP-NIDDM and the dispute over its heart findings, the ACE trial, and the mouse lifespan results labelled as mouse findings.
Read the deep dive →Orforglipron
The first daily GLP-1 pill with no fasting rules: the 2026 label, every phase 3 trial with weight, blood-sugar and dropout numbers, a cross-trial comparison with semaglutide and tirzepatide, and what is still unknown.
Read the deep dive →Vanzacaftor-Tezacaftor-Deutivacaftor
A once-daily three-drug tablet for cystic fibrosis, approved in the US in December 2024, that matched the older twice-daily triple combination on lung function and lowered sweat chloride further, with a boxed warning for liver injury.
Read the deep dive →Mefenamic Acid
An older fenamate painkiller approved in 1967 for short-term pain and period pain: its boxed warning, the Cochrane evidence that no NSAID clearly beats another, trials against ginger and fennel, and its unusual seizure risk in overdose.
Read the deep dive →Cilostazol
A tablet approved in 1999 for leg pain from narrowed arteries: what the walking trials and the Cochrane review found, the heart-failure boxed warning, drug interactions, and the stroke-prevention trials in Japan.
Read the deep dive →Celiprolol
A blood-pressure beta-blocker that cut artery tears from 50% to 20% in the small, early-stopped BBEST trial in vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, used in Europe but not approved in the United States.
Read the deep dive →Fenofibrate
An old triglyceride drug that did not cut heart attacks in diabetes but slowed early diabetic retinopathy in the FIELD, ACCORD-Eye and LENS trials, with the label's liver, muscle and kidney warnings.
Read the deep dive →Lutetium-177 Dotatate
A radioactive drug that rides on somatostatin receptors into neuroendocrine tumours: what NETTER-1 and NETTER-2 found, the label's blood, kidney and radiation warnings, and the long-term leukaemia risk seen in cohort studies.
Read the deep dive →Omaveloxolone
The first drug approved for Friedreich ataxia: how it switches on the cell's Nrf2 antioxidant defence, what the MOXIe trial and its 3-year follow-up found, and the label's liver, heart-marker and cholesterol warnings.
Read the deep dive →Oteseconazole
A long-acting antifungal approved in 2022 to cut repeat vaginal yeast infections in people who cannot become pregnant: the trials, the label's two-year exposure warning, and how it compares with fluconazole and ibrexafungerp.
Read the deep dive →Trientine
The copper-binding drug for Wilson disease: what its two FDA labels say, how it compares with penicillamine and zinc, the CHELATE trial, and the open question of neurological worsening.
Read the deep dive →Tenapanor
A gut sodium-pump blocker approved for IBS with constipation and, as an add-on to binders, for lowering phosphate on dialysis: what the trials and both U.S. labels report, diarrhoea included.
Read the deep dive →Fezolinetant
The non-hormone drug for hot flashes: neurokinin-3 blockade, trial numbers and the 2024 liver boxed warning.
Read the deep dive →Copper Histidinate
The first treatment for Menkes disease: survival data, FDA approval in January 2026 and kidney findings.
Read the deep dive →Lactulose
A synthetic, indigestible milk-derived sugar approved as an osmotic laxative and for the confusion of advanced liver disease, with emerging prebiotic research.
Read the deep dive →Laetrile
Sold as “vitamin B17”: not a vitamin, not a proven cancer treatment, and a cyanide poisoning risk.
Read the deep dive →Lithium Carbonate
The pharmaceutical lithium salt, distinct from the trace amounts discussed as a nutrient.
Read the deep dive →Low Dose Naltrexone
An opioid-blocking drug used off-label at a fraction of its usual dose, studied in small trials for autoimmune disease and chronic pain.
Read the deep dive →Lugol’s Iodine
Iodine and potassium iodide in solution, the traditional strong iodine preparation.
Read the deep dive →Luspatercept
An injected drug that helps late red-cell maturation, labelled for transfusion-dependent beta thalassaemia and lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes; what the trials found on transfusions and iron.
Read the deep dive →Magnesium Sulfate
Epsom salt: the laxative and the bath, and the intravenous drug used in eclampsia.
Read the deep dive →Melatonin
The darkness hormone that times sleep is also an antioxidant that concentrates in mitochondria, studied for sleep, brain protection and immunity.
Read the deep dive →Methenamine Hippurate
A urinary antiseptic, not an antibiotic, that releases formaldehyde in acidic urine; the ALTAR trial against daily antibiotics, the Cochrane review and where it worked less well.
Read the deep dive →N-Acetylcysteine
A cysteine form that rebuilds glutathione, long used as the acetaminophen-overdose antidote and a mucus thinner, and studied for kidney and mental health.
Read the deep dive →Nerandomilast
An oral pill that blocks the enzyme phosphodiesterase 4B, the first new antifibrotic for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in about ten years: how it works, the FIBRONEER trials, survival data, diarrhea and other side effects, and the 2025 approvals.
Read the deep dive →Nicotine: The Research
The tobacco alkaloid acting on nicotinic receptors; a PubMed research collection on memory, Parkinson's, bowel inflammation, mood, pain, cancer biology and toxicity.
Read the deep dive →Rapamycin
A transplant drug from an Easter Island soil bacterium that extends lifespan in mice, now used off-label for longevity despite real side effects.
Read the deep dive →Salsalate
An aspirin relative without the acetyl group, sold for arthritis in the US as an unapproved drug; what the arthritis and blood-sugar trials found and what its label warns.
Read the deep dive →Tocilizumab
An interleukin-6 receptor blocker labelled for rheumatoid arthritis, giant cell arteritis, sclerosis-related lung disease, childhood arthritis, cytokine release syndrome and severe COVID-19; the trials behind each use and the boxed infection warning.
Read the deep dive →Vonoprazan
A potassium-competitive acid blocker that does not need acid to switch on, approved in the US for erosive esophagitis, heartburn and Helicobacter pylori treatment packs; what the trials and long-term safety studies show.
Read the deep dive →Prescription and over-the-counter drugs, one wing per drug: what each one is, how it acts in the body, what the trials and safety records report, and its history. Each wing collects the drug’s deep-dive articles. The people who discovered and explained these drugs are under Pharmacologists.