Alcohol Use Disorder — Lemborexant Augmentation of Naltrexone for Alcohol Craving and Sleep
Citation(s)
Moorman DE The hypocretin/orexin system as a target for excessive motivation in alcohol use disorders. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2018 Jun;235(6):1663-1680. doi: 10.1007/s00213-018-4871-2. Epub 2018 Mar 6.
Rosenberg R, Murphy P, Zammit G, Mayleben D, Kumar D, Dhadda S, Filippov G, LoPresti A, Moline M Comparison of Lemborexant With Placebo and Zolpidem Tartrate Extended Release for the Treatment of Older Adults With Insomnia Disorder: A Phase 3 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Dec 2;2(12):e1918254. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.18254. Erratum In: JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Apr 1;3(4):e206497. JAMA Netw Open. 2021 Aug 2;4(8):e2127643.
Swift RM, Aston ER Pharmacotherapy for alcohol use disorder: current and emerging therapies. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2015 Mar-Apr;23(2):122-33. doi: 10.1097/HRP.0000000000000079.
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.