Companies are in business for one reason so limiting the amount of implants would be a really strange thing to do.
 
Golfsullivan, melanotan has been around for decades. If there were any nasty side effects lurking they would have been found by now you would think. It works so well that it would be unethical not to release it in my opinion.   

Quote from Nanelle on 12/27/09 at 04:15:21:

Nanelle,
Welcome to the forums and thanks for sharing here. While I am inclined to agree with your sentiments relative to folks' "need" of melanotan-1 please do understand that the development of afamelanotide [melanotan-1] as a potential treatment option for sufferers of EPP is a relatively new thing. When Clinuvel (originally called EpiTan) was first working to bring it to market it was primarily as a defensive treatment for preventing sunburns. In fact almost since their inception the melanotan peptides have been touted as a potential treatment to develop a protective (and let's face it, attractive) tan. So folks who have been following the development of these drugs for some time are understandably feeling frustrated and yes perhaps feel as though they do "need" a drug that would allow them to develop a protective layer of pigmentation. This "need" is frequently expressed by individuals who cannot develop any pigmentation at all (Fitzpatrick type I) or very little (Fitzpatrick type II) without the usage of a drug like one of these peptides that stimulates their underperforming melanocytes.
 
-Scott

With all respect Darkhorse did you ever loocked wat EPP is all about, i think pale skin, being the butt of jokes etc. dosen't compare well to not being able of having a normal and social live like normal people are able to do...look at this h//p://vimeo.com/8303627 before you make a reply or statement that hits people with this serious condition in to the face...i personaly feel happy about the fact this product will have a serious reason to excist, it can help these people first, and finaly will be the only reason this product wil become available for everybody in the future!
This product available for only cosmetic use was just a wett dream from (epitan) in the past, the future will be for clinical use, i hope it wil help people, that it will be reachable for everybody and will make me bloody rich by doing so....
 
best regards,
poissonke

Quote:

 
Definitely not, Nanelle!
It is naive to think that these people are good and want to help you. There are a lot of other diseases which are more serious and deadlier than EPP. There are diseases which have a higher prevalence than EPP but they are not funded. Why do u think there are no fundings for these diseases??The answer is that the potential of these drugs is limited. But not for afamelanotide [melanotan-1]. This drug will soon become a blockbuster , not for EPP, SU and PLE but for the cosmetic market.  If u go back to the market introduction of viagra. It was only for men who suffers from impotence. Now, the drugs is commonly used in the porn industry and it can be bought in the UK without prescription. Clinuvel only promotes its drug for these diseases to ensure its pole position for later, for the cosmetic industrie.
 
The only thing Clinuvel is focusing on is: PROFIT.  
Because all their clinical studies were very costly, clinuvel has to make benefits. And they cannot do it by only giving afamelanotide [melanotan-1] for people with EPP.
 
 

LOL...I did not mean to say "I assure you" twice.  

I meant no offense in my post either.  I am a fair skinned type I also.  I just have additional criteria for benefitting from the drug.  I think it should be available to whoever will have health benefits from it once it has been approved by the FDA.  I know it is frustrating to wait for something, but there has to be clinical trials done on small specific groups before they are done on the general public, and it all takes time.  We are just about to start trials here in the US, so it will be a long time before the general public will be able to get it.  For me to participate in the trials, I will have to accept whatever risks there are, and am quite sure I will have to release all liability of the company.
I am  not suggesting divisions, the drug companies have to be very careful about product safety and risk.  Those same people out there that are posting, "I want it now!" AND "Why can't I have it?"  are the ones who, in ten years if they have some problem unforeseen, will be bringing up a class action lawsuit against the drug companies.  They will conveniently forget that they didn't care what the long term effects could be when they begged for the product years before.  
 
When a drug is developed, it is beneficial to the developer to market it as a broad, far-reaching product, ie. for everyone who is fair-skinned.  But to get it to that audience, must prove its effectiveness and safety.  This is much more easily done within a sub-group with higher sensitivity to light.  The results will be more dramatic and measurable and accepted as most beneficial to the recipient. This will help to get approval for less severe reasons.  As I see it, if it weren't for the rare conditions it can treat, the medication might not ever reach the general public!  I think the two depend on each other.  One (rare diseases) to get it moving in the right direction and two (general public sun protection)to keep it there, since the money will be made from the larger audience.  So, thank you all you non-rare disease fair skinned people.  And you can thank me later for helping to get it to you.   And if it doesn't make it there for safety reasons, I will be sure to let you know if I experienced any of it, and whether it was worth the risk after all.  If I trade places with any one of you, I'd be glad to give up my spot to just have the fair skin and cancer risk, and wait.
 
Sirler, can you please clarify which diseases this will treat that are not funded, and more deadly than EPP?   You didn't answer that and I don't think you're speaking of skin cancer because there is definitely funding there.  As far as there being no limit to melanotan, if you want the proven safe version from the drug companies, then YES it is limited, for the very reasons I stated.  I believe many of you know where to get the injected "of-market?" kind.  That is where you can make your own choice.  If you want the product backed by the FDA, in implant form, you'll have to wait like everyone.  Or are you saying you can't get melanotan?  It sure seems like a lot of people here have found it.  And if it is so safe, then why is everyone talking so much about waiting for it?  Can any of you clarify as to he availability of it? This I don't know much about.  Thanks!

Darkhorse --
 
I just read your latest reponse here and all I can say is kudos for expressing it so well.   I just wanted to pound my fist in the air and say, "YESSSS!!!! SOMEBODY GETS IT!"    
 
This drug is now just for rare disease patients (for the next umpteen years) but that was never the original intent.  
 
This has gone from a drug for millions of Type I folks to a drug for a few thousand.  And while it's great for EPP folks, and NO one is denying the seriousness of EPP, well....like I said you summed it up perfectly.  
 
The regulators screwed us all with this and don't get it.  The drug has been proven safe time and time again.  Those at the FDA need to buy a clue when clues are on sale.  We have to wait 50 fricken years for longitudinal studies to prove whiteys are more at risk for melanoma.  Well, all I can say is, no crap!  Third graders know that by now!
 
Now, when is Clinuvel going to stop with all the skin cancer death rate stuff when in fact they won't even have this drug available to the majority who could benefit?  
 
How about if they just call it like it is on their website.  THey have a drug for a few thousand EPP patients.    
 
And by the way, to the uneducated -- many, many Type I people cannot live "normal" lives if by normal it is meant spend lengthy time in the sun like "normal" people do.  You don't have to have a rare disease to have live with such limitations.  
 
OK, I feel better now after getting that off my chest.
 

I don't understand why some people here feel that melanotan will be "restricted" to those with certain conditions. Once the stuff is on the market, dermatologists will be able to prescribe it off-label to anyone who walks in the door.
 
Happy New Year everybody!
 
Drew

Quote from ThePaler on 01/01/10 at 20:50:44:

 
What are you talking about? The implant will be performed by the dermatologist, in the derm's office.
 
Drew

Quote from ThePaler on 01/01/10 at 21:04:22:

 
"Risk his approbation"?? "Approbation" means "praise".  Before you use words it might help to look them up.
 
Despite your mangling of the English language, I think I know what you're trying to say, and that is that dermatologists will not want to prescribe/administer melanotan to patients off-label. There are many reasons why this argument doesn't hold water. First, if melanotan protects people from sunburn (and by implication, skin cancer), there is a good medical argument for prescribing it, especially for fair-skinned people. Second, dermatologists are in business to help patients, but they are still "in business"; more patients means more revenue for the practice. And finally, off-label prescribing is LEGAL and commonplace; physicians do it all the time.
 
Drew