thalidomide

Hypnotic drug developed in the 1950s for use as a sedative. When taken in early pregnancy, it caused malformation of the fetus (such as abnormalities in the limbs) in over 5,000 recognized cases, and the drug was withdrawn.

In 1995 US researchers announced trials using thalidomide derivatives for a variety of immune disorders, including AIDS, cancer, and graft-versus-host disease – it was already used routinely in the treatment of leprosy. In 1997 it was approved for that purpose by the US Food and Drug Administration.