Merck & Co's suvorexant improved patients' ability to fall asleep and stay asleep

US drug giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) has announced new data from two pivotal Phase III efficacy trials for suvorexant, an investigational compound under development for the treatment of insomnia.

In the studies, suvorexant significantly reduced the time it took patients to fall asleep and increased the time that patients stayed asleep as early as the first night and at the three-month time point compared to placebo. The investigational drug met statistical significance for all primary endpoints except for one measurement at month three in one of the trials. These late-breaking data were presented yesterday at SLEEP 2012, the 26th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, taking place in Boston, USA.

"This investigational drug targets insomnia in a way that is different from other medicines," said Andrew Krystal, professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, adding: "The potential for a new and different option would be welcome by patients with insomnia who cannot sleep through the night."