{"slug":"drugs-longest-in-use","title":"Products by years since first approval","basis":"Approved products ordered by the number of years between their earliest approval record and the current year.","metric":"Years in use","context":"First approval","how":"Takes the smallest year across a product's approval records and subtracts it from the year of the build. Withdrawals are not subtracted: a product withdrawn in one region may still be in use in another. The context column names that first regulator and year.","coverage":{"filled":484,"of":484,"what":"approved products carry a dated approval record","share":1},"total":484,"top":50,"rows":[{"rank":1,"id":"mechlorethamine","name":"Mechlorethamine (chlormethine)","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/mechlorethamine/","value":77,"metric":"77 years","context":"US 1949"},{"rank":2,"id":"radioactive-iodine","name":"Radioactive iodine (I-131)","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/radioactive-iodine/","value":75,"metric":"75 years","context":"US 1951"},{"rank":3,"id":"mercaptopurine","name":"Mercaptopurine","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/mercaptopurine/","value":73,"metric":"73 years","context":"US 1953"},{"rank":4,"id":"methotrexate","name":"Methotrexate","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/methotrexate/","value":73,"metric":"73 years","context":"US 1953"},{"rank":5,"id":"busulfan","name":"Busulfan","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/busulfan/","value":72,"metric":"72 years","context":"US 1954"},{"rank":6,"id":"prednisone","name":"Prednisone","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/prednisone/","value":71,"metric":"71 years","context":"US 1955"},{"rank":7,"id":"chlorambucil","name":"Chlorambucil","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/chlorambucil/","value":69,"metric":"69 years","context":"US 1957"},{"rank":8,"id":"dexamethasone","name":"Dexamethasone","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/dexamethasone/","value":68,"metric":"68 years","context":"US 1958"},{"rank":9,"id":"cyclophosphamide","name":"Cyclophosphamide","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/cyclophosphamide/","value":67,"metric":"67 years","context":"US 1959"},{"rank":10,"id":"thiotepa","name":"Thiotepa","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/thiotepa/","value":67,"metric":"67 years","context":"US 1959"},{"rank":11,"id":"fluorouracil","name":"Fluorouracil (5-FU)","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/fluorouracil/","value":64,"metric":"64 years","context":"US 1962"},{"rank":12,"id":"vincristine","name":"Vincristine","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/vincristine/","value":63,"metric":"63 years","context":"US 1963"},{"rank":13,"id":"dactinomycin","name":"Dactinomycin (actinomycin D)","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/dactinomycin/","value":62,"metric":"62 years","context":"US 1964"},{"rank":14,"id":"melphalan","name":"Melphalan (including hepatic delivery system)","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/melphalan/","value":62,"metric":"62 years","context":"US 1964"},{"rank":15,"id":"vinblastine","name":"Vinblastine","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/vinblastine/","value":61,"metric":"61 years","context":"US 1965"},{"rank":16,"id":"thioguanine","name":"Thioguanine","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/thioguanine/","value":60,"metric":"60 years","context":"US 1966"},{"rank":17,"id":"hydroxyurea","name":"Hydroxyurea (hydroxycarbamide)","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/hydroxyurea/","value":59,"metric":"59 years","context":"US 1967"},{"rank":18,"id":"cytarabine","name":"Cytarabine","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/cytarabine/","value":57,"metric":"57 years","context":"US 1969"},{"rank":19,"id":"procarbazine","name":"Procarbazine","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/procarbazine/","value":57,"metric":"57 years","context":"US 1969"},{"rank":20,"id":"mitotane","name":"Mitotane","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/mitotane/","value":56,"metric":"56 years","context":"US 1970"},{"rank":21,"id":"megestrol","name":"Megestrol acetate","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/megestrol/","value":55,"metric":"55 years","context":"US 1971"},{"rank":22,"id":"megestrol-progestins","name":"Progestins (megestrol acetate, medroxyprogesterone, levonorgestrel IUD)","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/megestrol-progestins/","value":55,"metric":"55 years","context":"US 1971"},{"rank":23,"id":"bleomycin","name":"Bleomycin","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/bleomycin/","value":53,"metric":"53 years","context":"US 1973"},{"rank":24,"id":"doxorubicin","name":"Doxorubicin","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/doxorubicin/","value":52,"metric":"52 years","context":"US 1974"},{"rank":25,"id":"mitomycin","name":"Mitomycin C","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/mitomycin/","value":52,"metric":"52 years","context":"US 1974"},{"rank":26,"id":"dacarbazine","name":"Dacarbazine","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/dacarbazine/","value":51,"metric":"51 years","context":"US 1975"},{"rank":27,"id":"carmustine","name":"Carmustine","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/carmustine/","value":49,"metric":"49 years","context":"US 1977"},{"rank":28,"id":"tamoxifen","name":"Tamoxifen","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/tamoxifen/","value":49,"metric":"49 years","context":"US 1977"},{"rank":29,"id":"bromocriptine","name":"Bromocriptine","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/bromocriptine/","value":48,"metric":"48 years","context":"US 1978"},{"rank":30,"id":"cisplatin","name":"Cisplatin","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/cisplatin/","value":48,"metric":"48 years","context":"US 1978"},{"rank":31,"id":"daunorubicin","name":"Daunorubicin","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/daunorubicin/","value":47,"metric":"47 years","context":"US 1979"},{"rank":32,"id":"isotretinoin","name":"Isotretinoin","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/isotretinoin/","value":44,"metric":"44 years","context":"US 1982"},{"rank":33,"id":"etoposide","name":"Etoposide","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/etoposide/","value":43,"metric":"43 years","context":"US 1983"},{"rank":34,"id":"leuprolide","name":"Leuprolide (leuprorelin) and GnRH agonists","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/leuprolide/","value":41,"metric":"41 years","context":"US 1985"},{"rank":35,"id":"mitoxantrone","name":"Mitoxantrone","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/mitoxantrone/","value":39,"metric":"39 years","context":"US 1987"},{"rank":36,"id":"ifosfamide","name":"Ifosfamide","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/ifosfamide/","value":38,"metric":"38 years","context":"US 1988"},{"rank":37,"id":"mesna","name":"Mesna","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/mesna/","value":38,"metric":"38 years","context":"US 1988"},{"rank":38,"id":"octreotide-lanreotide","name":"Somatostatin analogues (octreotide, lanreotide)","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/octreotide-lanreotide/","value":38,"metric":"38 years","context":"US 1988"},{"rank":39,"id":"carboplatin","name":"Carboplatin","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/carboplatin/","value":37,"metric":"37 years","context":"US 1989"},{"rank":40,"id":"epoetin-alfa","name":"Epoetin alfa","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/epoetin-alfa/","value":37,"metric":"37 years","context":"US 1989"},{"rank":41,"id":"flutamide","name":"Flutamide","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/flutamide/","value":37,"metric":"37 years","context":"US 1989"},{"rank":42,"id":"goserelin","name":"Goserelin / leuprolide (ovarian function suppression)","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/goserelin/","value":37,"metric":"37 years","context":"US 1989"},{"rank":43,"id":"vinorelbine","name":"Vinorelbine","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/vinorelbine/","value":37,"metric":"37 years","context":"EU 1989"},{"rank":44,"id":"idarubicin","name":"Idarubicin","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/idarubicin/","value":36,"metric":"36 years","context":"US 1990"},{"rank":45,"id":"filgrastim","name":"Filgrastim (G-CSF)","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/filgrastim/","value":35,"metric":"35 years","context":"US 1991"},{"rank":46,"id":"fludarabine","name":"Fludarabine","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/fludarabine/","value":35,"metric":"35 years","context":"US 1991"},{"rank":47,"id":"ondansetron","name":"Ondansetron","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/ondansetron/","value":35,"metric":"35 years","context":"US 1991"},{"rank":48,"id":"pamidronate","name":"Pamidronate","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/pamidronate/","value":35,"metric":"35 years","context":"US 1991"},{"rank":49,"id":"pentostatin","name":"Pentostatin","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/pentostatin/","value":35,"metric":"35 years","context":"US 1991"},{"rank":50,"id":"aldesleukin","name":"Aldesleukin (high-dose IL-2)","kind":"drug","route":"/drugs/aldesleukin/","value":34,"metric":"34 years","context":"US 1992"}]}