Comparison of the treatment effectiveness between lemborexant and zolpidem tartrate extended-release for insomnia disorder subtypes defined based on polysomnographic findings

Abstract

Study objectives: Patients with chronic insomnia may respond differently to therapeutic modalities. This study examined differences in response of individuals with 2 insomnia phenotypes-short sleep duration (I-SSD; < 6 hours) and normal sleep duration (I-NSD; ≥ 6 hours) determined by polysomnography-to treatment with lemborexant and zolpidem tartrate extended-release 6.25 mg (zolpidem ER), compared with placebo.

Methods: Study E2006-G000-304 (Study 304; SUNRISE-1; NCT02783729) was a global, randomized, double-blind, placebo, and active comparator-controlled, parallel-group study comparing lemborexant 5 and 10 mg in individuals aged ≥ 55 years with insomnia disorder. In this analysis, changes in subjective (self-reported) variables based on sleep diaries and objective variables based on polysomnographs were assessed after 1-month administration of study drugs. Data from participants with I-SSD and I-NSD were compared.

Results: In the I-SSD subgroup, both lemborexant doses provided significant benefit for sleep-onset latency (SOL), total sleep time (TST), and wake after sleep onset (WASO) vs placebo; zolpidem ER also provided significant benefit for TST and WASO, but not SOL, on both measures vs placebo. In the I-NSD subgroup, lemborexant and zolpidem ER provided significant benefit for TST and WASO vs placebo objectively but not subjectively; both doses of lemborexant provided significant benefit for SOL vs placebo subjectively, but not objectively.

Conclusions: Both drugs, but lemborexant more consistently, showed subjective and objective benefits compared with placebo in participants with insomnia with objective short sleep duration. However, neither lemborexant nor zolpidem provided consistent benefits for participants with normal sleep duration on sleep-onset and sleep maintenance variables.

Clinical trial registration: Registry: ClinicalTrials.gov; Name: Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Lemborexant in Subjects 55 Years and Older With Insomnia Disorder (SUNRISE 1); URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT02783729; Identifier: NCT02783729.

Citation: Inoue Y, Nishida M, Kubota N, et al. Comparison of the treatment effectiveness between lemborexant and zolpidem tartrate extended-release for insomnia disorder subtypes defined based on polysomnographic findings. J Clin Sleep Med. 2023;19(3):519-528.

Keywords: dual orexin receptor antagonist; insomnia with normal sleep duration; insomnia with short sleep duration; lemborexant; zolpidem tartrate extended-release.