Inventor Of Valium Dies At Age 97

Leo Sternbach, the inventor of a revolutionary new class of tranquilizers that included Valium, one of the first blockbuster “lifestyle” drugs, has died at his home in North Carolina. He was 97.

Sternbach, an award-winning chemist who helped the Swiss drug conglomerate Roche Group build its U.S. headquarters in Nutley, New Jersey, after fleeing the Nazis during World War II, died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, after a short illness late Wednesday. His wife, sons and other relatives were at his side, according to the company.

It is a sad day when such an influential and successful scientist passes away. Leo Sternbach gave the world back some of the peace it once had with his prescription drug Valium. Buy Valium Online now and experience what Leo gave the world.

Valium owes its success to the stubborn streak of chemist Leo Sternbach, who refused to quit after his boss at Hoffmann-La Roche ended a project to develop a tranquilizer to compete with a rival company’s drug. Sternbach tested one last version and in just a day, he got the results: The compound made animals relaxed and limp.

Sternbach had made the discovery that eventually led to Valium. It was approved for use in 1963 and became the country’s most prescribed drug from 1969 to 1982. Roche sold nearly 2.3 billion Valium pills stamped with the trademark “V” at the drug’s 1978 peak.

“It gave you a feeling of well-being,” Sternbach told The Associated Press in a 2003 interview on the 40th anniversary of Valium. “Only when the sales figures came in, then I realized how important it was.”

Named one of the 25 most influential Americans of the 20th century by U.S. News & World Report, Sternbach’s credits include 241 patents, 122 publications, honorary degrees and other awards. As recently as 1994, Roche products for which Sternbach held patents brought in more than one-quarter of the company’s worldwide pharmaceutical revenues.