Soon-Shiong, a surgeon who made his initial riches selling generic drugs to hospitals, has always insisted that the drug was more than just side-effect-sparing.

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When a drug is likely to cause a severe side effect--say, an increased risk of heart attack, an allergic reaction that causes the skin to burn or liver failure--the standard practice is to warn patients and doctors about the product's labeling, and to send out warning letters to physicians who might prescribe the medicine.

FORBES: FDA Fix No. 5: Forget Labels

To date, no drug has been approved in its leaf form because plants contain a complex composition of compounds with uncertain pharmacologies, metabolisms, side-effect profiles, toxicologies, drug interactions, and no control of relative concentrations.

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Cordaptive combines niacin, an already approved heart medicine, with a new drug that alleviates niacin's main side effect, hot-flash-like flushing.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Merck is working on a drug that counteracts a major side effect of Niacin, an HDL-raiser that is already on the market.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Doubts grew that Avastin wouldn't work, or that some serious side effect such as gastrointestinal bleeding would ground the once-promising drug.

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Peter Appelbaum, an expert in resistant bacteria at Penn State, says the drug has been in development for 15 years and causes more nausea than other drugs--a side effect that could crimp Wyeth's rosy forecasts.

FORBES: Magazine Article