The dual orexin receptor antagonist was honored as the ‘Best Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Product’ in Europe-Middle East.
Key takeaways:
- Idorsia’s treatment for insomnia disorder received the inaugural Prix Galien Bridges Award in the “Best Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Product” category.
- The drug is a dual orexin receptor antagonist designed for rapid onset and a duration of action to cover the night without causing morning carry-over effects.
- Development of the molecule took over 10 years and involved the synthesis and characterization of more than 25,000 compounds.
- According to the company, the treatment is intended to improve both nighttime sleep and daytime functioning in patients with insomnia disorder.
QUVIVIQ, Idorsia’s novel treatment for insomnia disorder has received the inaugural Prix Galien Bridges Award in the category of “Best Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Product.”
The award recognizes medicines, including biologics, gene therapies, and pharmaceutical compounds, that advance patient care through scientific innovation. The inaugural event celebrated innovations in biopharmaceuticals and devices in the Nordic, European, and Middle Eastern regions.
“We are immensely proud to have been awarded the prestigious Prix Galien, particularly the first of its kind in the Nordics,” says Bettina Blosse, general manager of Idorsia Nordics, in a release. “The recognition from the jury is a wonderful endorsement of Idorsia’s commitment to innovation in healthcare and the value that the new treatment brings to improving patient care for insomnia disorder.”
The treatment is a dual orexin receptor antagonist. According to the company, its research into the orexin system began in 1998 and led to the understanding that antagonizing the system could induce physiological sleep.
“With a treatment of insomnia disorder in mind, the team set the target to design a dual orexin receptor antagonist that, among a number of criteria, would achieve a rapid onset of effect and a duration of action sufficient to cover the totality of the night at optimally effective doses, avoiding morning carry-over effects,” says Martine Clozel, MD and chief scientific officer, in a release. “It took us more than 10 years, and we had to synthesize and characterize more than 25,000 compounds to arrive at the molecule which has now been recognized…for improving not only the nights of patients with insomnia disorder, but also most importantly their daytime functioning.”
The Prix Galien Awards were established in 1970 by Roland Mehl to recognize scientific advancement. The award ceremony was preceded by the Galien Bridges Forum, which took place at the Nobel Forum at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.
