Positive reports by the Abbes and other physicians experimenting with radium generated widespread medical interest in the new substance, and other laboratories gradually began to replicate the Curies' process, making radium more available. Soon both doctors and medical equipment manufacturers were racing to develop and deploy new therapies that would make use of the miracle substance. The most basic treatments involved placing radium samples near skin or tumors, but device manufacturers also developed clever new applications for the material, such as selling water infused with radon gas as an energy drink.