Is this The Brain Booster Of The Future?

Probably the most popular prescription drugs of the past decade, modafinil comes with an intriguing history. Developed in France in the late 1980s as an experimental therapy for narcolepsy, modafinil was approved for prescription consumption by the FDA in 1998. But it was not until the mid naughts that the medication actually caught on in America. What happened?

Marketed as a sleep disorder medication by pharmaceutical maker Cephalon and offered under the brand name Provigil, sales of modafinil were just twenty five dolars million in 1999. Eight years which are short later (2007), revenues topped $800 million — so that it is even more lucrative compared to Adderall or Viagra. Although sales would afterwards drop due to generic erosion, Provigil remains the most popular wakefulness promoting agent (or maybe eugeroic) sold by prescription. Ironically, it’s the fact that modafinil is generally used off-label that’s behind its stunning success in the States.

Promptly celebrity

Vastly superior to amphetamines and amphetamine-like stimulants as it doesn’t bring about addiction, jitteriness, crashing, and other adverse effects, modafinil was famously worn by U.S. soldiers who needed to remain awake for days on end when fighting in Iraq. Tales of its efficacy immediately reached the house front, and sales of Provigil continuously rose.

Limitless and beyond

In the 2011 film Limitless, a character played by actor Bradley Cooper exponentially increases his brainpower by taking an experimental nootropic drug known as NZT 48. Because art generally imitates life, there’s powerful evidence that the fictional mind booster was founded on modafinil. How can we know?

By the time the movie was in production, modafinil must have been a poorly-kept secret of the powerful and rich. Wildly popular on Wall Street, it was said to increase productivity, mental acuity, vyvamind walmart (washingtoncitypaper.com) and concentration. Labelled a smart drug (or maybe nootropic) because it reputedly enhanced 1 or more aspects of cognitive function, it was the stuff of legend for anybody that wanted to get ahead. It’s no surprise the prescription drug can be discovered in the medicine cabinets of one-percenters the world over. But have you thought about the rest of us?

Limiting the limitless