Brallobarbital is a barbiturate

Barbiturate

Barbiturates are drugs that act as central nervous system depressants, and can therefore produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to total anesthesia. They are also effective as anxiolytics, as hypnotics, and as anticonvulsants...

 derivative invented in 1964. It has sedative

Sedative

A sedative or tranquilizer is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement....

 and hypnotic

Hypnotic

Hypnotic drugs are a class of psychoactives whose primary function is to induce sleep and to be used in the treatment of insomnia and in surgical anesthesia...

 properties, and was used for the treatment of insomnia

Insomnia

Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...

. Brallobarbital was primarily sold as part of a combination product called Vesparax, composed of 150 mg secobarbital

Secobarbital

Secobarbital sodium is a barbiturate derivative drug that was first synthesized in 1928 in Germany. It possesses anaesthetic, anticonvulsant, sedative and hypnotic properties...

, 50 mg brallobarbital and 50 mg hydroxyzine

Hydroxyzine

Hydroxyzine is a first-generation antihistamine of the diphenylmethane and piperazine classes. It was first synthesized by Union Chimique Belge in 1956 and was marketed by Pfizer in the United States later the same year, and is still in widespread use today....

. The long half-life of this combination of drugs tended to cause a hangover effect the next day, and Vesparax fell into disuse once newer drugs with less side effects had been developed.