Modafinil was developed in France by neurophysiology professor Michel Jouvet and Lafon Laboratories. It is part of a series of benzhydryl sulfinyl compounds, including adrafinil, initially used as a treatment for narcolepsy in France in 1986. Modafinil, the primary metabolite of adrafinil, has been prescribed in France since 1994 under the name Modiodal, and in the United States since 1998 as Provigil. Unlike modafinil, adrafinil does not have FDA approval and was withdrawn from the French market in 2011.
The FDA approved modafinil in 1998 for narcolepsy treatment, and later for shift work sleep disorde and obstructive sleep apnea in 2003. It was approved in the UK in December 2002. In the United States, modafinil is marketed by Cephalon, who acquired the rights from Lafon and purchased the company in 2001.
Cephalon introduced armodafinil, the (R)-enantiomer of modafinil, in the United States in 2007. Generic versions of modafinil became available in the US in 2012 after extensive patent litigation.