Ugo Clinton։ Tranexamic Acid From Discovery to a Life-Saving Treatment
Ugo Clinton, Supritendent Pharmacist at 1980 Pharmaceuticals Limited, shared a post on LinkedIn:
”Medication History: Tranexamic Acid
A drug that helps save lives by preventing excessive bleeding after childbirth began with one Japanese scientist who refused to accept that mothers had to die from postpartum haemorrhage.
In the 1950s, Utako Okamoto and her husband, Shosuke Okamoto, searched for a way to stop clots from dissolving too early.
In 1962, their team reported tranexamic acid (TXA), a synthetic lysine analogue far more potent than the earlier drug, aminocaproic acid.
How it works: the body naturally breaks down clots through fibrinolysis.
TXA blocks plasminogen from binding to fibrin, so the clot stays intact.
For decades it was used quietly for heavy periods, dental bleeding in haemophilia, and surgery. Then two landmark trials changed everything:
- CRASH-2 (2010): over 20,000 trauma patients across 40 countries. TXA reduced deaths from bleeding, especially when given within 3 hours.
- WOMAN (2017): about 20,000 women with postpartum haemorrhage. Early TXA cut death from bleeding by roughly a third, and Nigeria was among the participating countries.
Today TXA is on the WHO Essential Medicines List, a 1960s molecule still saving lives in 2026.
Three lessons:
- Old drugs can hide big discoveries
- Timing can matter as much as the drug itself
- Behind many medical breakthroughs are researchers history almost forgotten.”
Proceed to the video attached to the post.
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