Accidental Invention Facts

Rogaine was not invented to grow hair. Upjohn developed minoxidil in the 1950s to treat ulcers - it failed. They pivoted to a blood pressure drug, approved as Loniten in 1979. During those trials, 60-80% of patients grew unexpected hair. A 1980 letter in the New England Journal of Medicine exposed the side effect. Upjohn launched Rogaine in 1988 - the first drug the FDA ever approved to regrow hair.