Merck's Novel Approach to a New Sleeping Pill
A new class of sleeping pills aims to inhibit the wake system
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A sleeping pill that offers the snooze-inducing benefits of Ambien and Lunesta while avoiding next-day grogginess and disorientation has eluded drug heavyweights including GlaxoSmithKline and Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical. Merck thinks it may have found a solution.
The drugmaker is in final testing of an insomnia product, named suvorexant, that works differently from the market leaders. Rather than boosting the brain’s complex sleep system, suvorexant uses a more precise approach to block a tiny group of receptors that keep the body alert.