Salbutamol was discovered in 1966, by a team led by David Jack at the Allen and Hanburys laboratory (a subsidiary of Glaxo) in Ware, Hertfordshire, England, and was launched as Ventolin in 1969.
The 1972 Munich Olympics were the first Olympics where anti-doping measures were deployed, and at that time β agonists were considered to be stimulants with high risk of abuse for doping. Inhaled salbutamol was banned from those games, but by 1986 was permitted (although oral β agonists were not). After a steep rise in the number of athletes taking β agonists for asthma in the 1990s, Olympic athletes were required to provide proof that they had asthma in order to be allowed to use inhaled β agonists.
In February 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first generic of an albuterol sulfate inhalation aerosol for the treatment or prevention of bronchospasm in people four years of age and older with reversible obstructive airway disease and the prevention of exercise-induced bronchospasm in people four years of age and older. The FDA granted approval of the generic albuterol sulfate inhalation aerosol to Perrigo Pharmaceutical.
In April 2020, the FDA approved the first generic of Proventil HFA (albuterol sulfate) metered dose inhaler, 90 μg per inhalation, for the treatment or prevention of bronchospasm in patients four years of age and older who have reversible obstructive airway disease, as well as the prevention of exercise-induced bronchospasm in this age group. The FDA granted approval of this generic albuterol sulfate inhalation aerosol to Cipla Limited.