Boundaryless Innovation: Value Capture of Botulinum Neurotoxins (50th Anniversary Lecture)

Clostridum botulinum, a spore-forming obligate anaerobic bacterium, produces seven distinctly serologically different (A, B, C, D, E, F, and G) Botulinum Neurotoxins (BoNTs). These BoNTs generate their potent toxic effects by presynaptic block of neurotransmitter release and thereby cause paralysis. Respected as the most potent toxins known, innovation across the drug development value chain has culminated in BoNTs as safe, efficacious and widely accepted therapeutic treatments for debilitating medical conditions including blepharospasm, strabismus, cervical dystonia, juvenile cerebral palsy, migraine and spasticity

Contrasting, BoNTs are equally poplular for aesthetic treatments of hyperfunctional facial lines. This presentation will discuss boundaryless innovation and the history of the BOTOX® drug development heralding the trajectory of toxins from “dreaded paralytic poisons” to “miracle medical and cosmetic aesthetic potions” using the speaker’s research, development, manufacturing and commercial interface experiences.