Drugs That Induce A Natural Tan

In July 2007, researchers at the Harvard affiliated Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston conducted a series of experiments and found that a suntan helps prevent the body from the cancerous effects of ultraviolet rays. It has found that a suntan is the body's best effort to deflect the known cancerous effects of ultraviolet (UV) light.

Melanotan is a drug already being developed in Australia that stimulates your body to produce a natural tan without going in the sun. Its being developed by a company called Clinuvel and its product is called CUV1647. They are currently in the process of testing an implant that can provide the tan, while also protecting skin against UV rays and treating skin cancer precursors. CUV1647 acts by increasing the levels of eumelanin in the skin. It appears to shield against subsequent prolonged UV irradiation (UVR). CUV1647 is delivered from a subcutaneous implant approximately the size of a grain of rice. Increased pigmentation of the skin appears after a few days and may last up to several months.

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Note in this video they refer to Epitan as the company and Melanotan as the implant. Since the video was made Epitan has been renamed to Clinuvel. They have also renamed Melanotan to CUV1647 in an attempt to move away from tanning as being the only application for their product. Dr Wolgen said the "potential blockbuster drug" had to be registered before it could be commercialised. However in order to register a drug, it must be proven to offer a medical benefit for clinical needs. It is proposed that CUV1647 will also treat the millions of people world-wide who suffer from UV-related skin disorders such as PLE and AK.

They had initially marketed CUV1647 as a tanning product, saying it produces eumelanin, a pigment which can protect skin from UV exposure. However they realised it is more likely to be approved by the FDA by showing it can be used to treat a range of skin conditions including polymorphous light eruption (PLE) or sun poisoning and actinic keratosis (AK), a skin cancer precursor. Phase III trials of the drug have begun in Europe in May 2007 and with all going well it should be commercialised in 2009.

Source: Clinuvel.com