Once-nightly sodium oxybate (FT218) improved symptoms in people with narcolepsy: a plain language summary of publication

This is a plain language summary of an article originally published in the journal Sleep. Once-nightly sodium oxybate (ON-SXB for short; also known as FT218) is a potential treatment for excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS for short) and sudden muscle weakness known as cataplexy. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is deciding whether to approve ON-SXB to be prescribed to adults with narcolepsy. The REST-ON clinical study looked at whether ON-SXB was better than a substitute that had no medicine in it (called a placebo) at treating narcolepsy symptoms. The results of this study showed that people who took ON-SXB were able to stay awake longer during the day, felt less sleepy in the daytime, had less cataplexy, and were more improved overall than people who took placebo. Common side effects with ON-SXB were nausea, vomiting, dizziness, bedwetting, and headache. If approved by the FDA, people with narcolepsy may have the option to choose a form of sodium oxybate that they only have to take once at bedtime. They could avoid taking a second middle-of-the-night dose. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT number: NCT02720744