Essentially the most widely used prescription drugs of the past decade, modafinil comes with an intriguing history. Created in France in the late 1980s as an experimental therapy for best nootropics ever narcolepsy, modafinil was approved for prescription consumption by the FDA in 1998. But it was not until the mid naughts which the medication really caught on in America. What happened?
Sold as a sleep disorder medication by pharmaceutical maker Cephalon and marketed under the brand name Provigil, sales of modafinil were simply $25 million in 1999. Eight years that are short later (2007), revenues topped $800 million -- which makes it much more profitable than Adderall or Viagra. Even though sales would afterwards decline as a result of generic erosion, Provigil remains probably the most popular wakefulness promoting representative (or maybe eugeroic) sold by prescription. Ironically, it is the fact that modafinil is primarily used off-label that is behind the stunning success of its in the States.

Timely celebrity
Vastly greater than amphetamines and amphetamine like stimulants since it does not result in addiction, jitteriness, crashing, as well as other adverse effects, modafinil was famously used by U.S. soldiers that had to keep awake for days on end when fighting in Iraq. Tales of its efficacy immediately reached the house front, and sales of Provigil steadily rose.

Unlimited and beyond
In the 2011 movie Limitless, a character played by actor Bradley Cooper exponentially boosts the brainpower of his by taking an experimental nootropic drug called NZT 48. Because art often imitates life, there is evidence which is compelling that the fictional brain booster was founded on modafinil. How can we know?
By the time the movie was in production, modafinil was a poorly-kept secret of the rich and powerful. Wildly well known on Wall Street, it was thought to increase productivity, mental acuity, and concentration. Labelled a sensible drug (or perhaps nootropic) since it reputedly enhanced one or perhaps more facets of cognitive function, it was the stuff of legend for anyone that needed for getting ahead. It is not surprising that the prescription drug is discovered in the medicine cabinets of one percenters the world over. But have you thought about the remainder of us?

Restricting the limitless