Daridorexant

Daridorexant, sold under the brand name Quviviq, is an orexin antagonist medication which is used for the treatment of insomnia. Daridorexant is taken by mouth. Side effects of daridorexant include headache, somnolence, and fatigue. The medication is a dual orexin receptor antagonist (DORA). It acts as a selective dual antagonist of the orexin receptors OX1 and OX2. Compared to other marketed OX antagonists, daridorexant has a relatively short elimination half-life of 8 hours and a time to peak of about 1 to 2 hours. It is not a benzodiazepine or Z-drug and does not interact with GABA receptors, instead having a distinct mechanism of action. Daridorexant was approved for medical use in the United States in January 2022 and became available in May 2022. It was approved in the European Union in April 2022, and is the first orexin receptor antagonist to become available in European Union. The medication is a schedule IV controlled substance in the United States and may have a modest potential for misuse. Besides daridorexant, other orexin receptor antagonists, like suvorexant and lemborexant, have also been introduced.