Adrafinil, sold under the brand name Olmifon, is a wakefulness-promoting medication that was formerly used in France to improve alertness, attention, wakefulness, and mood, particularly in the elderly.

[6][7][8] It was also used off-label by individuals who wished to avoid fatigue, such as night workers or others who needed to stay awake and alert for long periods of time.

[13][14][15] Relative to adrafinil, modafinil possesses greater specificity in its action, lacking or having a reduced incidence of many of the common side effects of the former (including stomach pain, skin irritation, anxiety, and elevated liver enzymes with prolonged use).

Adrafinil was discovered in 1974 by two chemists working for the French pharmaceutical company Laboratoires Lafon who were screening compounds in search of analgesics.

[8] Adrafinil and its active metabolite modafinil were added to the list of substances prohibited for athletic competition according to World Anti-Doping Agency in 2004.

One company had attempted to get a New Dietary Ingredient pre-market notification approved for adrafinil in 2017, but the Food and Drug Administration rejected[22] it: “For the reasons discussed above, the information in [this pre-market] notification is incomplete and does not provide an adequate basis to conclude that ‘Adrafinil’...will reasonably be expected to be safe.

[The defendant] has also agreed to forfeit all tianeptine, adrafinil, phenibut, and racetams seized by the FDA and Customs and Border Protection.

"Certain products, formulated with adrafinil in them, have been listed as subject to a May 2023 import alert by Food and Drug Administration because they are considered as containing an active pharmaceutical ingredient.

[24] In 2005 a Medical Classification Committee in New Zealand recommended to MEDSAFE NZ that adrafinil be classified as a prescription medicine due to risks of it being used as a party drug.

[25] In a clinical trial with the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine and placebo as comparators, adrafinil showed efficacy in the treatment of depression.