Cimetidine
The first blockbuster drug
The anti-ulcer drug cimetidine was developed by a team at the Smith, Kline and French Laboratories in Welwyn Garden City over a 12-year period, and was one of the first drugs to be discovered using 'rational drug design' methods. Within a few years of its commercial launch in 1976, sales of cimetidine exceeded $1 billion a year, making it the first 'blockbuster' drug.
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The structure of cimetidine (C10H16N6S) solved from synchrotron-radiation X-ray powder diffraction data
R. J. Cernik, A. K. Cheetham, C. K. Prout, D. J. Watkin, A. P. Wilkinson and B. T. M. Willis, J. Appl. Cryst., 1991, 24, 222–226