The history of the development of ivermectin and diethylcarbamazine for the treatment of human filarial infections is relatively well known and documented. The story of how albendazole became involved in the global elimination programmes is, however, less well known. This review examines the thinking and the processes behind the development of albendazole, from the first ideas in the mid 1980s to the establishment of the Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis. Throughout, the approaches were essentially different from those of traditional drug development and, in the end, there was a recommendation for a particular public-health use that was not formally approved by the regulatory authorities. While there is no doubt about the efficacy of albendazole for the treatment of many helminth diseases, as a single agent it could never be recommended for filariasis.