<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> (what is this?) (verify) </Th> </Tr> <P> Thalidomide, sold under the brand name Immunoprin, among others, is an immunomodulatory drug and the prototype of the thalidomide class of drugs . Today, thalidomide is used mainly as a treatment of certain cancers (multiple myeloma) and of a complication of leprosy . </P> <P> Thalidomide was first marketed in 1957 in West Germany under the trade name Contergan . The German drug company Chemie Grünenthal developed and sold the drug . Primarily prescribed as a sedative or hypnotic, thalidomide also claimed to cure "anxiety, insomnia, gastritis, and tension". Afterwards, it was used against nausea and to alleviate morning sickness in pregnant women . Thalidomide became an over-the - counter drug in West Germany on October 1, 1957 . Shortly after the drug was sold in West Germany, between 5,000 and 7,000 infants were born with phocomelia (malformation of the limbs). Only 40% of these children survived . Throughout the world, about 10,000 cases were reported of infants with phocomelia due to thalidomide; only 50% of the 10,000 survived . Those subjected to thalidomide while in the womb experienced limb deficiencies in a way that the long limbs either were not developed or presented themselves as stumps . Other effects included deformed eyes and hearts, deformed alimentary and urinary tracts, blindness and deafness . The negative effects of thalidomide led to the development of more structured drug regulations and control over drug use and development . </P> <P> Thalidomide is used as a first - line treatment in multiple myeloma in combination with dexamethasone or with melphalan and prednisone, to treat acute episodes of erythema nodosum leprosum and for maintenance therapy . </P>

Thalidomide was marketed in the 1960s as a treatment for
find me the text answering this question