Diazepam was the second benzodiazepine to be invented by Sternbach of Hoffmann-La Roche, and was approved for use in 1960, in 1963 it’s improved version, Valium, was released and was incredibly popular (It also helped Roche to become a pharmaceutical industry giant). It is two and a half times more potent than its predecessor, chlordiazepoxide, which it quickly surpassed in terms of sales. After this initial success, other pharmaceutical companies began to introduce other benzodiazepine derivatives.

Benzodiazepines gained popularity among medical professionals as an improvement upon barbiturates, which have a comparatively narrow therapeutic index, and are far more sedating at therapeutic doses.