New drug: daridorexant for insomnia.

Daridorexant is a new sleep medication with a different mode of action than, for instance, benzodiazepine. Daridorexant is a so-called dual orexin receptor antagonist (DORA), which within the complex process of falling asleep is said to reduce wakefulness and increase somnolence. Hardly any research has been conducted into the efficacy of daridorexant compared with non-medicinal treatments, like cognitive behavioural therapy, or treatment with benzodiazepine agonists. It is unclear, for instance, whether it results in less daytime sleepiness than the benzodiazepine agonists, but it does affect driving performance on the day after administration of a single dose. The question is whether this new sleeping pill nevertheless has any added value over existing treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]