AZT, or azidothymidine, was originally developed in the 1960s by researcher Jerome Horwitz with the intention of preventing cancer cells from replicating. However, when tested in mice, it proved ineffective and was subsequently shelved.

In the 1980s, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) included AZT in its screening program aimed at discovering treatments for HIV/AIDS. Early clinical trials sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome, known for its antiviral drugs, were led by Dr. Margaret Fischl, a young physician practicing in South Florida during that time. The study demonstrated that AZT…