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y supplements toggle drug companies and dietary supplements subsection 2 1 founding of efamol and scotia 2 2 controversy and administration 2 2 1 legal and regulatory problems 2 2 2 allegations of selective reporting and research suppression 2 2 3 investor concerns about an ailing company 2 2 4 horrobin s ousting from scotia 2 3 laxdale ltd 3 research publications and editorships toggle research publications and editorships subsection 3 1 scientific publications 3 2 journal editor 3 3 popular science 4 death and obituary controversy 5 posthumous honours 6 selected bibliography 7 references toggle the table of contents david horrobin add languages add links article talk english read edit view history tools tools move to sidebar hide actions read edit view history general what links here related changes upload file permanent link page information cite this page get shortened url switch to legacy parser print export download as pdf printable version in other projects wikidata item appearance move to sidebar hide from wikipedia the free encyclopedia british canadian entrepreneur medical researcher author and editor 1939 2003 david frederick horrobin 6 october 1939 1 april 2003 was a british canadian entrepreneur medical researcher author and editor he is best known as the founder of the biotechnology company scotia holdings and as a promoter of evening primrose oil as a medical treatment 1 horrobin was founder and editor of the journals medical hypotheses and prostaglandins leukotrienes and essential fatty acids the latter journal initially titled prostaglandins and medicine co founded with his then graduate student morris karmazyn horrobin believed that many diseases involve a lack of fatty acid precursors and might be alleviated by supplementing with the appropriate fatty acid 2 horrobin s efforts focused on evening primrose oil which contains gamma linolenic acid in the 1980s horrobin sold primrose oil in the united states without legally demonstrating its safety and efficacy 3 leading to government confiscations and felony indictments of his associates 4 5 horrobin was later accused of withholding research data and suppressing the reports of scientists who questioned his claims 6 7 during horrobin s tenure as chief executive scotia pharmaceuticals obtained licences for several drugs based on evening primrose oil but these licenses were withdrawn for lack of efficacy 8 amidst charges of mismanagement and research fraud horrobin was ousted as ceo by a unanimous vote of the board and left the company in 1998 in 2001 scotia one of the first publicly traded biotechnology companies in the united kingdom 9 also became the first to collapse 1 10 after horrobin s departure from scotia he founded laxdale ltd a company that investigated omega 3 fatty acids as possible treatments for schizophrenia and neurodegenerative diseases horrobin died of pneumonia as a complication of mantle cell lymphoma in 2003 obituaries noted his contributions to the biotechnology industry intellectual acumen original thinking and adventurousness while some criticised his promotion of primrose oil and other questionable claims 11 notably controversial 5 12 13 14 obituaries in the independent 11 and the british medical journal 15 angered horrobin s friends and family by also portraying negative aspects of horrobin s life with the bmj obituary stating that horrobin may prove to be the greatest snake oil salesman of his age 15 education and academic career edit born in bolton england horrobin attended queen elizabeth s grammar school blackburn and king s college school in wimbledon london 11 he studied medicine on a scholarship at balliol college oxford obtaining degrees in both medicine and surgery citation needed and then earned a doctorate in neurophysiology and neuroendocrinology citation needed on completing his pre clinical work horrobin became a fellow of magdalen college oxford in 1963 at magdalen he was strongly influenced by the nutritionist hugh macdonald sinclair and his hypotheses on essential fatty acids and degenerative disease citation needed following participation in the flying doctor service in east africa horrobin was appointed as professor and chairman of medical physiology at nairobi university in kenya in 1972 he moved to the university of newcastle upon tyne where he was appointed as a reader in medical physiology in 1975 he became professor of medicine at the university of montreal 9 drug companies and dietary supplements edit founding of efamol and scotia edit while working as an academic investigator in africa and later horrobin developed a theory implicating altered fatty acid metabolism in schizophrenia the idea did not generate interest 9 and horrobin failed to obtain funding 16 it was noted that horrobin presented only circumstantial evidence and was unable to propose a mechanism underlying the hypothesised link 9 to raise money for his research 16 horrobin left academia and in 1977 established a company called efamol to sell evening primrose oil epo as a proposed treatment for various ailments for example horrobin considered epo to be a treatment for eczema after trying it on the son of a librarian from his college 17 horrobin planned to use the profits from efamol to fund research and development of drugs containing epo fatty acids 9 efamol renamed scotia pharmaceuticals in 1987 11 was active in nova scotia surrey and scotland 9 in 1993 under horrobin s leadership scotia was one of the first biotechnology companies to be floated on the london stock exchange 9 scotia spent heavily on research being ranked 79th among all uk companies in 1993 and reached a peak market capitalisation of about 600m in 1996 18 as a major shareholder of scotia horrobin rose to number 212 in 1996 on the list of the wealthiest people in the united kingdom 11 controversy and administration edit legal and regulatory problems edit horrobin within several years of founding efamol was selling epo in more than 25 countries he marketed the supplement as a treatment for pms alcoholism pregnancy induced hypertension atopic eczema elevated cholesterol levels hypertension scleroderma multiple sclerosis rheumatoid arthritis mastalgia breast pain and other problems 5 but according to the united states food and drug administration fda horrobin did not satisfactorily demonstrate the efficacy and safety of his supplement 3 4 19 the fda advised efamol not to ship epo to the united states without obtaining approval horrobin agreed but began making shipments horrobin conspired with general nutrition inc to process efamol into capsules in california it would then be sold to general nutrition and relabeled for resale under a different brand name according to an fda investigation horrobin suggested marketing strategies to circumvent the laws including coaching retail representatives on making oral claims to customers planting articles on their research in the media deploying researchers to make claims on their behalf using radio phone ins and other tactics 6 horrobin wrote to general nutrition obviously you could not advertise efamol for these purposes but equally obviously there are ways of getting the information across 5 as a result the fda began to seize shipments of epo and handed down felony indictments to general nutrition several executives and store managers for conspiring to defraud the fda and violating provisions of the food drug and cosmetic act general nutrition and its president entered guilty pleas and paid fines but horrobin was not prosecuted 5 efamol continued to ship epo into the united states and to market its products in a 1989 article on health food frauds the new york times reported on the fda s seizure of more than 1 million worth of illegal epo the fda again accused efamol of marketing the oil with unsubstantiated claims of treating a wide variety of illnesses efamol s lawyers responded that the product was not dangerous and that it had not made unsubstantiated claims 3 the american dietetic association representing over 50 000 nutritionists questioned the value of horrobin s product since one tenth of a teaspoon of ordinary corn oil has as much of the fatty acids as a capsule of evening primrose oil at a fraction of the cost 3 in 1989 the fda commissioned a report by investigator stephen barrett a medical doctor and consumer protection advocate barrett advised the fda that horrobin s marketing of efamol was done in a transparent attempt to evade the food and drug laws in a report on the incident published by the consumer information organisation quackwatch barrett also questions horrobin s research ethics would someone that contemptuous of the law have any qualms about faking data 5 allegations of selective reporting and research suppression edit in 2006 a column in the guardian suggested that horrobin had also actively suppressed research findings contradicting his claims about epo horrobin wrote a meta analysis of epo research on eczema in 1989 concluding that epo was effective horrobin excluded the negative results of the largest published study to date but included purported results of seven of his own unpublished studies that remained unpublished as of 2006 when several scientists asked to see the unpublished data horrobin s legal team convinced the journal to refuse the request 6 in 1997 horrobin s team successfully halted the publication of another meta analysis commissioned by the department of health 7 research published after horrobin s death indicates that fatty acids are no more effective than a placebo against eczema 20 scotia s medicines licences for evening primrose oil drugs was withdrawn 6 investor concerns about an ailing company edit as the supplement sales generated revenue horrobin s company began work on numerous drugs most of them containing evening primrose oil in 1993 the company was floated and enjoyed several years of increasing capitalisation as horrobin reassured investors who worried about the company s lack of success operating losses and enigmatic nature 21 22 horrobin stated that any of four products in scotia s drugs pipeline could bring the company billions of pounds in revenue 23 in early 1995 horrobin said that he hoped to receive approval in the next 18 months to sell one or both of two of these drugs 23 in late 1996 horrobin predicted that he would receive approval for one of the drugs in under two years 22 in 1997 horrobin stated scotia will be cash positive by 2000 21 however the initial successes of scotia on the stock markets and horrobin s reassurances were undermined by what investors perceived as long standing and systemic problems at the company and they saw their fears confirmed with the rejection in march 1997 of regulatory approval for scotia s drug tarabetic also known as efamol the product contained evening primrose oil and was intended to treat diabetic peripheral neuropathy 24 scotia immediately lost one quarter of its value licences for several evening primrose oil containing drugs were later withdrawn a scotia product epogam was reportedly the first drug to have its licence withdrawn as a result of evidence that it didn t work by the end of 1997 scotia was nearly broke and did not have enough money to fund another year of research 25 investors worried that horrobin had spread the company and its resources too thinly a state described by the guardian as woolly sprawling and lacking in focus 17 they also questioned horrobin s judgement in promoting his wife to research manager of the company despite her lack of scientific or business training 26 her highest qualification was a ba in english and women s studies 17 investors were restive about horrobin s emphasis on products related to evening primrose oil which they considered a hippy project 17 outmoded and of questionable scientific validity 25 when it was found that borage contained a higher percentage of gamma linolenic acid than did the evening primrose rival companies had begun to take market share of the supplement in 1996 the independent described scotia s supplement business as struggling horrobin responded to the borage competition by accusing his rivals of duping women selling pigs in pokes and marketing unstable and potentially toxic products findings of fraud associated with scotia trials also weighed on horrobin s company goran jamal a doctor who had participated in developing efamol was found guilty of research fraud by the general medical council in 2003 27 the council ruled that jamal had committed serious professional misconduct for falsifying his results manipulating the supposed randomisation of the clinical trial conducted over a decade earlier scotia was faulted by industry observers for what was called a highly unusual compensation scheme as it had offered the doctor a portion of profits from future sales 26 although the council suggested that jamal was prompted to commit fraud by his belief in the efficacy of the drug and not by his desire for financial gain 24 horrobin s ousting from scotia edit horrobin was ousted as chief executive of scotia by a unanimous vote of the board 28 29 and was replaced on 1 january 1998 by robert dow whom horrobin had hired several months earlier to help with the company s business plan and investor relations horrobin remained until may 1998 as a non executive director when he tried to stage a boardroom coup to return himself to the executive position the other directors refused to support him and horrobin resigned as the company s value fell from about 600 m to 16 m 15 28 horrobin and his successor each blamed the other for the company s failure 17 scotia went into administration in 2001 30 laxdale ltd edit following his departure from scotia horrobin set up a new company laxdale ltd to examine the use of omega 3 essential fatty acids in treating schizophrenia and neurodegenerative diseases 31 the company was sold after his death to the amarin corporation and is now known as amarin neuroscience ltd 32 research publications and editorships edit horrobin was a prolific writer of academic and popular works he was also the founder co founder and editor of two journals and with his brother peter the co founder of mtp press peter horrobin later founded a religious cult ellel ministries scientific publications edit horrobin was an author on over 800 publications including about 500 scientific papers 33 34 many of which appeared in journals he edited 11 15 horrobin s belief in a connection between fatty acids and schizophrenia guided much of his career from 1970 horrobin was medical adviser to the schizophrenia society of great britain he later served as the society s president 9 horrobin also wrote on other scientific issues he considered research with animal models of human disease to be a waste of resources 35 and believed that large scale clinical trials were unnecessary and unethical however in at least one case he defended modern medicine by writing a critique of ivan illich s famo...
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