Zimelidine, formerly sold under the brand name Zelmid among others, is an antidepressant medication of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class, and the first SSRI antidepressant to be marketed.[2] It is a pyridylallylamine, and is structurally different from other antidepressants.[3]
Zimelidine was developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s by Arvid Carlsson, Hans Corrodi and Peter Berntsson, who were then collaborating with the Swedish company Astra AB. Their work began with a series of antihistamines known as pheniramines that were found to block both serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake, and among these, brompheniramine was identified as the most potent serotonin reuptake blocker and was therefore selected as the starting point for their synthesis program, ultimately leading to the invention of zimelidine as a derivative of brompheniramine.[4] Zimelidine was first sold in 1982.[5]