Glybera - Alipogene tiparvovec
In July 2012, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended it for approval (the first recommendation for a gene therapy treatment in either Europe or the United States), and the recommendation was endorsed by the European Commission in November 2012. Glybera was developed over a period of decades by researchers at the University of British Columbia and later Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics (AMT), which acquired rights to with the aim of releasing the drug in Europe. After spending millions of euros on Glybera's approval, AMT went bankrupt and its assets were acquired by uniQure. Glybera gained infamy as the "million-dollar drug," causing its manufacturer, uniQure, to remove the drug after two years on the European market. As of 2018, only 31 people worldwide have ever been administered Glybera, and uniQure has no plans to sell the drug in the US or Canada.