ZOLPIDEM LAUNCHED IN THE UK

Lorex Pharmaceuticals, a fully affilaited subsidiary of French company Synthelabo, has launched the non-benzodiazepine hypnotic Stilnoct (zolpidem) in the UK.

The product, notes the company, is structurally different from benzodiazepines belonging to a class of molecules called imidazopyridines. This class of compound, said the company, offers a number of advantages over traditional hypnotics. The drug has a short half-life (around 2.4 hours) which means that the patient should be reasonably alert on waking and not feel drowsy for the rest of the day. Many benzodiazepines have half-lives of longer than 18 hours, which can lead to a build up in drug tissue concentrations, as well as impairment of function during the waking period.

In addition, said Lorex, zolpidem is more specific in its binding activities than other hypnotics. Although the drugs bind to the same receptor (GABA receptors), zolpidem binds selectively to the omega1 site compared to benzodiazepines which bind to all three omega receptor subtypes. As a result of this selectivity, says the company, the drug has shown no significant anxiolytic, muscle relaxant or anticonvulsant effects at therapeutic doses.