Norboletone () (former proposed brand name Genabol), or norbolethone, is a synthetic and orally active anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) which was never marketed. It was first developed in 1966 by

Wyeth Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth in ...

Laboratories and was investigated for use as an agent to encourage weight gain and for the treatment of short stature, but was never marketed commercially because of fears that it might be toxic. It subsequently showed up in urine tests on athletes in competition in the early 2000s. Norboletone was found to have been brought to the market by the chemist Patrick Arnold, of the

Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) (1984–2003) was an American company led by founder and owner Victor Conte. In 2003, journalists Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada investigated the company's role in a drug sports scandal later re ...

(BALCO), an American nutritional supplement company. It is reputed to have been the active ingredient in the original formulation of the "undetectable" steroid formulation known as "The Clear" before being replaced by the more potent drug

tetrahydrogestrinone Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), known by the nickname The Clear, is a synthetic and orally active anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) which was never marketed for medical use. It was developed by Patrick Arnold and was used by a number of high-profile ...

. In 2002,

Don Catlin Don H. Catlin (born June 4, 1938) is an anti- doping scientist and one of the founders of modern drug-testing in sport. Career Catlin has overseen testing for performance-enhancing drugs at the three most recent Olympics held in the United State ...

, the founder and then-director of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Lab, identified norboletone for the first time in an athlete's urine sample. In the same year, U.S. bicycle racer

Tammy Thomas Tammy Thomas (born 1970 or 1971) is an American former sprint track cyclist, who won a silver medal at the 2001 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in the individual sprint event. However, her career was ended after she was caught using anaboli ...

was caught using it and was banned from her sport. The following year, Catlin identified and developed a test for

(THG), the second reported designer anabolic sample—a key development in the BALCO Affair. Norboletone is on the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...

's list of prohibited substances, and is therefore banned from use in most major sports.

References

{{Androgen receptor modulators Abandoned drugs Androgens and anabolic steroids Estranes Designer drugs Hepatotoxins World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited substances