Excerpt from The Economist, Sept 2004
For an indication of what might have happened if a safe and effective cognitive enhancer were to reach the market, consider the example of modafinil. Manufactured by Cephalon, a biotech company based in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and sold under the names “Provigil” and “Alertec”, the drug is a stimulant that vastly improves alertness in patients with narcolepsy, a shift-work sleep disorder and sleep apnea. Since it first reached the market in American in 1999, sales have shot through the roof, reaching $290m in 2003 and expected to grow by at least 30% this year.
Much of the sales growth of modafinil has been driven by its off-label use, which accounts for as much as 90% of consumption. With its amazing safety profile – the side-effects generally do not go beyond mild headache or nausea – the drug is increasingly used to alleviate sleepiness results from all sorts of causes, including depression, jet lag or simply working long hours with too little sleep. Cephalon itself is now focusing on moving this drug through late-stage clinical trials for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children. Ritalin, an amphetamine now widely used to treat this disorder, is in the same category as morphine for its addiction potential. Most experts believe that modafinil, by contrast, is far less likely to be abused.