[6] Introduced in France in 1978 by the pharmaceutical company Servier,[7] amineptine soon gained a reputation for abuse due to its short-lived, but pleasant, stimulant effect experienced by some patients.

[9] Warnings and precautions before taking amineptine:[10] Severe acne due to amineptine was first reported in 1988 by various authors—Grupper, Thioly-Bensoussan, Vexiau, Fiet, Puissant, Gourmel, Teillac, Levigne, to name a few—simultaneously[11][12][13][14][15] in the same issue of Annales de Dermatologie et de Vénéréologie and in the 12 March 1988 issue of The Lancet.

[16] A year later, Dr Martin-Ortega and colleagues in Barcelona, Spain reported a case of "acneiform eruption" in a 54-year-old woman whose intake of amineptine was described as "excessive.

[18] Most of them were treated unsuccessfully with isotretinoin (Accutane) for about 18 months; two of the three that discontinued amineptine experienced a reduction in cutaneous symptoms, with the least affected patient going into remission.

[29] In circa 1994 Spain, there was a case associating acute pancreatitis and mixed hepatitis, after three weeks of treatment.

[30] Lazaros and colleagues at the Western Attica General Hospital in Athens, Greece reported two cases of drug induced hepatitis 18 and 15 days of treatment.

[36][35][41] Unlike other TCAs, amineptine interacts very weakly or not at all with the serotonin, adrenergic, dopamine, histamine, and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors.

[39][40][41] The major metabolites of amineptine have similar activity to that of the parent compound, albeit with lower potency.

[2][3] Due to their very short elimination half-lives, amineptine and its major metabolite do not accumulate significantly with repeated administration.

[2] Amineptine has been sold under a variety of brand names including Survector, Maneon, Directim, Neolior, Provector, and Viaspera.