Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: VNDA), today announced it has initiated a Phase III clinical trial to evaluate tasimelteon in patients with Non-24-Hour Sleep Wake Disorder (N24HSWD), a condition experienced primarily by totally blind individuals that results in abnormal night sleep patterns and chronic daytime sleepiness. Tasimelteon binds to high affinity melatonin receptors located in the brain that are believed to regulate circadian rhythms, or sleep/wake cycles.
"Blind individuals with no light perception do not receive external light and darkness signals that synchronize our internal body clocks," commented Mihael H. Polymeropoulos, M.D. President and Chief Executive Officer of Vanda. "As a result, these individuals can live lives in a constant state of circadian misalignment. Tasimelteon has the potential to be the first in the class of circadian regulators, drugs that may offer clinical benefits to patients with aberrant timing of the sleep/wake cycle."
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