Ambien CR improves output and time management

French drug major Sanofi-Aventis says that results from a new study that showed patients with chronic insomnia who were treated with 12.5mg of Ambien CR (zolpidem tartrate extended- release) tablets CIV experienced significant improvements in two key parameters of work performance - output and time management - over a period of 12 weeks compared with those given placebo.

These results, which were part of a larger study that evaluated the efficacy and safety of the drug when taken as needed, were recently presented at the 20th annual US Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress in Orlando, Florida.

The multicenter, Phase IIIb, randomized, double-blind study included 728 patients with chronic primary insomnia. Treatment with Ambien CR showed significantly higher improvement from baseline in work tasks at week 12 in a work limitation questionnaire for both Time Management Scale (- 7.39 difference; p < 0.001) and the Output Scale (- 4.8 difference; p = 0.0076) compared to placebo, which was confirmed by an effect size analysis, the French firm noted.