Fluoxetine hydrochloride (Prozac) is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class.

Fluoxetine is approved for the treatment of depression (including pediatric depression), obsessive-compulsive disorder (in both adult and pediatric populations), bulimia nervosa, panic disorder and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Other indications include hypochondriasis and body dysmorphic disorder.

Despite the availability of newer agents, it remains extremely popular. Over 23.1 million prescriptions for generic formulations of fluoxetine were filled in the United States in 2006, making it the third most prescribed antidepressant.

According to David Wong, the work which eventually led to the discovery of fluoxetine began at Eli Lilly in 1970 as a collaboration between Bryan Molloy and Robert Rathburn.

It was known at that time that antihistamine diphenhydramine shows some antidepressant-like properties. 3-Phenoxy-3-phenylpropylamine, a compound structurally similar to diphenhydramine, was taken as a starting point, and Molloy synthesized dozens of its derivatives. Testing the physiological effects of these compounds in mice resulted in nisoxetine, a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor currently widely used in biochemical experiments.

Later, hoping to find a derivative inhibiting only serotonin reuptake, Wong proposed to re-test the series for the in-vitro reuptake of serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. This test, carried out by Jong-Sir Horng in May 1972, showed the compound later named fluoxetine to be the most potent and selective inhibitor of serotonin reuptake of the series.

A controversy ensued after Lilly researchers published a paper entitled "Prozac (fluoxetine, Lilly 110140), the first selective serotonin uptake inhibitor and an antidepressant drug" implicitly claiming fluoxetine to be the first selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Two years later they had to issue a correction, admitting that the first SSRI was zimelidine developed by Arvid Carlsson and colleagues. (However, unlike its successful cousin, zimelidine was banned worldwide because of serious side effects.) Fluoxetine was the third SSRI on the market. Fluvoxamine (Luvox) had been marketed in Europe since 1983. Fluoxetine made its appearance on the Belgian market in 1986 and was approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States in December 1987.

Eli Lilly's patent on Prozac (fluoxetine) expired in August, 2001, prompting an influx of generic drugs onto the market.

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