Nou informe sobre els símptomes nocturns i el funcionament diürn en adults amb insomni

Daridorexant 25 mg and 50 mg improved sleep outcomes, and daridorexant 50 mg also improved daytime functioning, in people with insomnia disorder, with a favorable safety profile. The overall incidence of adverse events was comparable between treatment groups in adults and older adults (aged 65 and over) with insomnia. As reported, daridorexant 50 mg demonstrated statistically significant improvements in the primary endpoints of sleep onset and maintenance as well as the secondary endpoints of total sleep time and daytime sleepiness.

Importantly, the trials were the first to investigate the effect of an insomnia treatment on daytime functioning, using a validated patient-reported outcomes tool, which includes three different domains (alert/cognition, mood, and sleepiness). Daridorexant 50 mg, which was evaluated in one of the two trials, demonstrated improvements compared to baseline across all daytime functioning domains with a high level of consistency.

Emmanuel Mignot, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and lead author, commented:

“People with insomnia often complain of impaired daytime functioning. This is a major issue often ignored in treating insomnia and in fact many sleep promoting drugs can impair daytime functioning when they have residual effects. In this program, not only did we see efficacy of daridorexant on sleep induction, maintenance and patient-reported sleep quantity and quality, but importantly, at the dose of 50 mg, on daytime functioning, notably in the sleepiness domain as measured with a new scale, the IDSIQ. Participants in the daridorexant 50 mg group reported improvements in multiple aspects of daytime functioning, as assessed by this newly developed and validated instrument that assessed mood, alert/cognition, and sleepiness. It is exciting to see that insomnia is finally not solely viewed as a nighttime problem but as a cause of daytime suffering.”

Efficacy and Safety Outcomes

Daridorexant 50 mg significantly improved sleep onset, sleep maintenance and self-reported total sleep time at months one and three compared to placebo. The largest effect was observed with the highest dose (50 mg), followed by 25 mg, while the 10 mg dose did not have a significant effect. In all treatment groups the proportions of sleep stages were preserved, in contrast to findings reported with benzodiazepine receptor agonists.

A major focus of the trials was to evaluate the impact of daridorexant on daytime functioning in patients with insomnia, as assessed by the Insomnia Daytime Symptoms and Impacts Questionnaire (IDSIQ). IDSIQ is a validated patient-reported outcomes instrument specifically developed according to FDA guidelines, including patient input, to measure daytime functioning in patients with insomnia. The sleepiness domain score of the IDSIQ was evaluated as a key secondary endpoint in both pivotal studies and comparisons to placebo included control for multiplicity. Daridorexant 50 mg demonstrated highly statistically significant improvement in daytime sleepiness at month one and month 3. The sleepiness domain score was not significantly improved on 25 mg in either study at either timepoint. Daridorexant 50 mg also improved the additional IDSIQ domain scores (alert/cognition domain, mood domain) and total score (p-values < 0.0005 versus placebo not adjusted for multiplicity). Improvements in daytime functioning by daridorexant 50 mg progressively increased over the three months of the study.

The overall incidence of adverse events was comparable between treatment groups. Adverse events occurring in more than 5% of participants were nasopharyngitis and headache. There were no dose-dependent increases in adverse events across the dosing range, including somnolence and falls. Further, no dependence, rebound insomnia or withdrawal effects were observed upon abrupt discontinuation of treatment. Across treatment groups, adverse events leading to treatment discontinuation were numerically more frequent with placebo than daridorexant.

Martine Clozel, MD, and Chief Scientific Officer of Idorsia, commented:

“These data published in The Lancet Neurology highlight the depth of evidence generated in the daridorexant development program and the properties of the drug that I believe explain the results. The drug was designed to have efficacy for sleep onset and maintenance at optimally efficacious doses while avoiding residual morning sleepiness. This profile, together with the equal blockade of both orexin receptors – which may lead to an inhibition of the chronic sympathetic hyperactivity characteristic of insomnia – may explain the improvement we see in daytime functioning with 50 mg of daridorexant.”

Daridorexant in insomnia

Insomnia disorder is characterized by difficulties initiating or maintaining sleep and is associated with distress or impairment in daytime functioning. A wide range of daytime complaints, from fatigue and reduced energy to mood alteration and cognitive difficulties, are reported by people with insomnia.

Insomnia is associated with an overactive wake system.

Daridorexant, a novel dual orexin receptor antagonist, was designed and developed by Idorsia for the treatment of insomnia. Daridorexant targets the excessive wakefulness characteristic of insomnia by blocking the activity of orexin. Daridorexant specifically targets the orexin system by competitively binding with both receptors, thereby reversibly blocking the activity of orexin.

Daridorexant is FDA approved in the US under the tradename QUVIVIQ™ and will become available following scheduling by the US Drug Enforcement Administration in May 2022.