• Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., reported data from two pivotal Phase III trials of suvorexant in insomnia at SLEEP 2012, the annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. The orexin receptor antagonist reduced the time it took patients to fall asleep and increased the time that patients stayed asleep as early as the first night and at three months, compared to placebo. Endpoints from the trials included mean change from baseline for suvorexant compared to placebo in both subjective (patient-reported) and objective (polysomnographic, sleep lab-based) measures of sleep onset and sleep maintenance. Sleepiness and headache were the most common adverse events. The company also presented data demonstrating the effects of suvorexant after daily dosing for at least a year. Merck plans to present additional results from the two efficacy studies and to file a new drug application for suvorexant this year.