Insomnia Drug Can Help Jet-Lag and Shift-Work Problems

Filed in archive Sleep Disorders on December 1, 2008

Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Debi Bishop

Say goodbye to melatonin because Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s insomnia drug tasimelteon (also known as VEC-162) is here to help jet-lag and circadian rhythm disorders.

Phase II and III trials of the said drug as reported by the Maryland-based pharmaceutical company, has been found safe compared to placebo.

"...Tasimelteon has the potential for the treatment of patients with transient insomnia associated with circadian rhythm sleep disorders, including people affected by jet lag, or those who work at night, and early-riser workers," they wrote in their report, published in the Lancet medical journal.

Dr. Shantha Rajaratnam of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues, working with the company, did both Phase II and Phase III trials of the drug, aiming to show it is safe and works.

Reports are saying that this is quite a development from melatonin being impure from over-the-counter versions and valium being addictive.

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