A recent study from Maastricht University in the Netherlands showed that Solriamfetol (Sunosi) significantly improved driving performance for patients with narcolepsy and daytime sleepiness due to obstructive sleep apnea. As reported, results came via a pair of on-road driving studies with support by Jazz Pharma, makers of Sunosi. 
“In the one-hour driving test, performed two hours after taking 300 mg solriamfetol or placebo, patients with narcolepsy showed less weaving with the active drug (difference in standard deviation of lateral positioning -1.9 cm, 95% CI -6.7 to 2.6, P=0.002),” writes Elizabeth Hlavinka a reporter with MedPage today.
Researcher Frederick Vinckenbosch, MSc, of Maastricht University, showed that weaving, “evaluated as standard deviation of lateral positioning (SDLP)—was also reduced among patients with clinically significant daytime sleepiness stemming from obstructive sleep apnea after taking solriamfetol versus placebo (difference -1.1 cm, 95% CI -1.85 to -0.32, P=0.006).” Findings were presented as posters at the recently held virtual Psych Congress 2020
“Patients with narcolepsy and daytime sleepiness due to obstructive sleep apnea have an increased risk of having driving accidents, Vinckenbosch said during a presentation of the findings,” writes Hlavinka. “In a separate study reported by Ryan N. Hansen, PharmD, PhD, of the University of Washington in Seattle, patients with obstructive sleep apnea had a 17% greater risk of a motor vehicle accident compared to the general population…”
Solriamfetol, a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor, was approved to treat narcolepsy and apnea-related daytime sleepiness in 2019. According to a Jazz Pharma press release, Sunosi net product sales were $8.6 million in the second quarter of 2020, compared to $1.9 million in the first quarter of 2020.
Net sales in the second quarter of 2020 benefited from lower gross-to-net deductions, and a 12% increase in U.S. prescriptions compared to the first quarter of 2020. Sunosi was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in January 2020 and launched in Germany in May 2020. At the end of the second quarter, approximately 85% of commercially insured U.S. patients had access to coverage for Sunosi.
Source: ResearchGate and MedScape
