A biotech company developing an over-the-counter sleep aid came across an intriguing discovery — it also helps snoring. Requis Pharmaceuticals hopes to be the first company to develop a drug to prevent snoring that also functions as a sleep aid.
Requis is developing a series of de-risked pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals based in part on tryptophan.
Requisom, its lead product, is a mixture of doxylamine, GRAS nutraceuticals melatonin and tryptophan, the source of serotonin and a universal feel-good neurotransmitter, according to the company. In an interview with MedCity News, CEO Lars Knutsen said that some friends were testing the drug as a sleep aid and the wife was surprised to find it helped keep her husband from snoring.
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Requis is preparing to submit an investigational new drug application for Requisom to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
There is currently no drug available to prevent snoring so a sleep aid that can do that has the potential to get a decent slice of the market. Another potential advantage to a drug that prevents snoring is that adherence would be higher since bed partners suffer from a lack of sleep.
The over-the-counter sector of the pharmaceutical industry tends to yield good margins but with relatively low capital requirements, according to Knutsen, especially if cost of goods can be controlled. Add to that the reduced risk factor of using an FDA-approved drug and Knutsen projects that the company will be profitable three years after initial capital is raised, if the drug is approved, compared with the typical eight to 10 year time frame for biotech startups.
The company wants to tap the estimated $750 million OTC sleep-aid market and sees the potential for the market to expand much more with an anti-snoring drug.
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The Sleep Foundation estimates that about 90 million Americans snore, but the reasons vary. For some it is caused by obstructive sleep apnea, obesity, alcohol consumption or allergies. Others snore due to anatomical reasons such as enlarged tonsils or adenoids, nasal polyps, or a deviated nasal septum.The current treatments tend to be in the form of devices such as mouth guards, breathing strips and earplugs for the unfortunate bed partners.
In addition to Requisom, Requis is also developing a treatment for jet-lagged travelers.
Knutsen, who co-founded West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Requis with his wife Judi, has worked for Cephalon, GlaxoSmithKline, Novo Nordisk, Vernalis and Ionix Pharma, which was acquired by Vernalis. He has also held senior roles in four biotech startups.
