Beta blockers are among one of the safest and most effective anti-hypertensive drugs available.
Practolol was the first cardio-selective beta -blocker, also discovered and developed by ICI in the mid-1960s, but ICI withdrew it in 1975 after it was found to be toxic.
In 1964 ICI eventually produced the drug propranolol, which possessed a better efficacy and safety profile. Propranolol is now widely used in the management of angina, hypertension, arrhythmia, and migraine headache.
Two additional beta-blockers, Atenolol and Practolol, were later discovered.
Atenolol was launched in the market under the trade name Tenormin in 1976, and became the best-selling Beta-blocker in the world in the 1980s and 1990s.
Discovery of atenolol
