Novel delivery system in REMfresh mimics the way the body naturally releases and maintains melatonin over a 7-hour period
Real-world evidence confirms previous clinical data on improved sleep duration and sleep quality with REMfresh
Reporter: Gail S. Thornton, M.A.
Chronic disorders of sleep and wakefulness affect an estimated 50-70 million adults in the United States.[i] The cumulative long term effects of sleep loss have been associated with a wide range of damaging health consequences, including obesity, diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, anxiety and depression.[ii]In terms of preventing health consequences, sleeping 6-8 hours per night consistently may provide optimal health outcomes.[iii]
This month, real-world evidence from two recently completed patient-reported outcomes (PRO) studies presented at SLEEP 2019 in San Antonio, Texas, confirms previous clinical data demonstrating statistically significant improvements in sleep onset, sleep duration, sleep maintenance and sleep quality with REMfresh®, the first and only continuous release and absorption melatonin (CRA-Melatonin™). This data supports and reinforces the benefits of REMfresh, which is designed to give patients up to 7 hours of sleep support. PRO studies of this kind, which more closely address real-world patient experience, are increasingly being recognized by regulatory authorities and academia in evaluating new therapies.
The REMfresh Duration Validation (REMVAL) study provides further evidence of a correlative relationship between the 7-hour pharmacokinetic profile observed in the earlier clinical study, REM Absorption Kinetics Trial (REMAKT), and the hypnotic effects of REMfresh, observed in subsequent studies, as demonstrated by improvements in sleep onset, sleep duration, sleep maintenance, sleep quality and patient satisfaction. This latest study further validates the findings of past studies that have been presented and undergone peer review at major sleep conferences:
- REMfresh Patient Reported Outcomes DURation (REMDUR), the first, 500-patient, PRO study of this sleep brand, presented at the annual meeting for sleep specialists, SLEEP 2018, which demonstrated that more than 77 percent of patients achieved 6 or more hours of sleep compared to 23.6 percent who slept that duration prior to taking REMfresh (p<.0001)[iv], and
- REM Absorption Kinetics Trial (REMAKT), a pharmacokinetic study presented at SLEEP 2017 and 2018, which demonstrated that REMfresh mimics the body’s own seven-hour Mesa-Wave® release profile, a natural pattern of melatonin blood levels during a normal night’s sleep cycle.[v]
An additional PRO subset study, part of REMVAL, called the REMfresh Short Sleep Cohort Assessment (REMSS), assessed improvements in sleep duration and sleep maintenance among 311 patients with morbid or extreme short sleep duration of 4 hours or less.
These two PRO studies (REMVAL and REMSS) were presented at SLEEP 2019, the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), which is a joint meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society, held in San Antonio, Texas, from June 8-12.
“These latest findings provide further confirmation of the potential for nonprescription REMfresh to help address the public health issue of the cumulative effects of sleep loss,” said David C. Brodner, M.D., a leading sleep specialist who is Double Board-Certified in Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery as well as Sleep Medicine, Founder and Principle Physician at the Center for Sinus, Allergy, and Sleep Wellness, in Palm Beach County, Florida, and Senior Medical Advisor for Physician’s Seal, LLC. “Based on a novel Ion Powered Pump® (IPP®) delivery system that provides a pharmacokinetic (PK) profile that more closely aligns with the body’s own natural sleep pattern, REMfresh has demonstrated once again promising results and high levels of satisfaction in a real-world population of patients who have had chronic difficulties sleeping, providing up to seven hours of sleep support,” said Dr. Brodner.
Topline findings of these studies are as follows:
- The 1,116 patient-reported outcomes (PRO) study, REMfresh Duration Validation (REMVAL), found that after taking 99 percent ultra-pure, continuous release and absorption melatonin (REMfresh®, CRA-melatonin™), the majority (78.8 percent) of patients involved achieved a sleep duration of greater than or equal to 6 hours (p<.0001), while more than 91 percent of patients reported a major/moderate improvement in sleep onset, sleep maintenance and sleep quality (p<.0001). Of the 30.7 percent of patients (342 in total), who reported never having taken other brands of melatonin, 99.4 percent indicated they were likely or very likely to continue taking CRA-melatonin for their sleep issues (p<.0001).
- REMVAL provides further real-world evidence of a correlative relationship between the originally observed 7-hour pharmacokinetic profile in the REM Absorption Kinetics Trial (REMAKT) and the strong observed hypnotic effects of CRA-melatonin, as demonstrated by improvements in sleep onset, sleep duration, sleep maintenance and sleep quality.
- A second PRO subset study, REMfresh Short Sleep Cohort Assessment (REMSS), involving 311 patients who reported sleeping four hours or less nightly from the REMVAL study, found that 95.8 percent of patients who previously experienced daily, morbid short sleep duration of less than or equal to 4 hours reported an improvement in sleep duration (p<.0001), including more than 46 percent who achieved a sleep duration of greater than or equal to 6 hours (p<.0001). More than 93 percent of patients reported a major/moderate improvement in sleep onset, sleep maintenance and sleep quality (p<.0001).
- REMVAL and REMSS also provides validation of the results from the previously peer-reviewed and presented clinical study, REMAKT, which demonstrated that REMfresh mimics the body’s own 7-hour Mesa Wave®, a natural pattern of melatonin blood levels during a normal night’s sleep cycle and the 500-patient, peer-reviewed and presented REMfresh® Patient Reported Outcomes DURation (REMDUR) study, that demonstrated statistically significant improvements in sleep onset, sleep maintenance and sleep quality.
REMVAL Study Describes Improvements in Sleep Duration and Sleep Quality
The poster entitled, “Observed Hypnotic Effects with a Continuous-Release Ion Powered Pump Melatonin Delivery System: Self-Reported Patient Outcomes Study Results Demonstrating Improvement in Sleep Duration and Quality,” reported findings provides further real-world evidence of a correlative relationship between the originally observed 7-hour pharmacokinetic profile in the REM Absorption Kinetics Trial (REMAKT) and the strong hypnotic effects of CRA-melatonin observed in subsequent studies and may offer a new low-dose, drug-free alternative to prescription hypnotics to treat chronic sleep disturbances.
The 1,116-patient REMVAL study was designed to obtain clinically relevant information about patients’ past usage of melatonin and non-melatonin sleep aids, sleep patterns prior to taking CRA-melatonin, sleep duration before and after taking CRA-melatonin, frequency of CRA-melatonin usage, improvement in sleep onset, sleep maintenance and sleep quality after taking CRA-melatonin, and overall satisfaction with CRA-melatonin.
In the study, patients with sleep disturbances in the general population received a sample of REMfresh from their physicians and were invited to complete a 13-question online survey. After taking REMfresh, the majority (78.8 percent) of patients achieved a sleep duration of greater than or equal to 6 hours (p<.0001). More than 91 percent of patients reported a major/moderate improvement in sleep onset, sleep maintenance and sleep quality (p<.0001). Of the 30.7 percent of patients (342 in total), who reported never having taken other brands of melatonin, 99.4 percent indicated they were likely or very likely to continue taking REMfresh for their sleep issues (p<.0001).
REMSS Study Shows Improvement in Patients with Chronic, Extreme Short Sleep
The poster entitled, “Improvement in Sleep Duration and Maintenance with Ion Powered Continuous Release and Absorption Melatonin in a Cohort of Patients with Chronic Short Sleep Duration: Results from a Patient-Reported Outcomes Study,” highlighted findings from the REMfresh Short Sleep Cohort Assessment (REMSS), involving a cohort of 311 patients from the REMVAL study who reported sleeping four hours or less nightly. This cohort analysis was designed to obtain clinically relevant information from these patients experiencing morbid short sleep disturbances, including sleep patterns and melatonin usage before taking REMfresh, sleep duration before and after taking REMfresh, improvement in sleep onset, sleep maintenance and sleep quality after taking REMfresh, and overall product satisfaction.
Data from this cohort show that 95.8 percent of patients who previously experienced daily, morbid short sleep duration of less than or equal to 4 hours reported an improvement in sleep duration (p<.0001), including more than 46 percent who achieved a sleep duration of greater than or equal to 6 hours (p<.0001). This increase from less than or equal to 4 hours to greater than or equal to 6 hours represents a major sleep duration upgrade in this group facing morbid sleep disturbances. More than 93 percent of patients reported a major/moderate improvement in sleep onset, sleep maintenance and sleep quality (p<.0001). Ninety-nine percent of the patients suffering with morbid short sleep (27.2 percent of whom had never previously tried a melatonin brand) reported that they were very likely or likely to continue using CRA-melatonin. These results provide real-world evidence that CRA-melatonin with its extended 7-hour pharmacokinetic plateau time and benign safety-profile may be a practical baseline therapy to improve sleep duration and other key sleep parameters, including, sleep maintenance and sleep quality in this group of patients who have a higher risk of all-cause mortality.[vi]˒[vii]˒[viii]˒[ix]
Statistics & Data Corporation (SDC), a top-tier clinical data services provider, has independently determined that the number of participants in the study provides adequate power (>90%) to detect even small improvements in sleep outcomes. This high power, or probability of seeing statistically significant results if CRA-melatonin is truly working to improve sleep outcomes, applies to the overall study population (REMVAL) as well as the cohort of short sleepers (REMSS). SDC has subsequently independently validated the statistical results achieved, (e.g., p-values and statistical language).
The Increasing Appreciation of PRO Studies to Include Patient Experience
Increasingly, there is an appreciation by the U.S. Congress, regulatory authorities and academia, of the substantive value that real-world patient experience brings to assessing new therapies. In addition to the traditional randomized, placebo-controlled trial studies, regulatory authorities are now incorporating the patient perspective in their decision making, including PRO studies. A PRO study is a measurement based on a report that comes directly from the patient about the status or change in their health condition and without amendment or interpretation of the patient’s response by health-care intermediaries. PRO measures can be used to capture a patient’s everyday experience outside of the clinician’s office, and the effects of a treatment on the patient’s activities of daily living.[x]˒[xi]Together, clinical measures and PRO measures can provide a fuller picture of patient benefit.
REMAKT Clinical Study Presented at Past Medical Meetings
Pharmacokinetic data on REMfresh® was peer-reviewed and then presented in 2017 and 2018 at SLEEP, the Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS), and a joint meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society (SRS).
The study, REM Absorption Kinetics Trial (REMAKT), was a U.S.-based randomized, crossover pharmacokinetic (PK) evaluation study in healthy, non-smoking adults that compared REMfresh (CRA-melatonin) with a market-leading, immediate-release melatonin (IR-melatonin). The study found that melatonin levels with REMfresh exceeded the targeted sleep maintenance threshold for a median of 6.7 hours, compared with 3.7 hours with the leading IR-melatonin. Conversely, the levels of the market-leading IR-melatonin formulation dramatically increased 23 times greater than the targeted levels of exogenous melatonin for sleep maintenance and then had a rapid decline in serum levels that did not allow melatonin levels to be maintained beyond 4 hours.
Analysis presented at SLEEP 2017 and 2018 showed that REMfresh builds upon the body of evidence from prolonged-release melatonin (PR-M), approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2007 as a prescription drug for insomnia, which demonstrated in well-conducted, placebo-controlled studies, statistically significant improvement in sleep quality, morning alertness, sleep onset and quality of life in patients aged 55 years and older compared with placebo.[xv] REMfresh was designed to overcome the challenges of continuous release and absorption in the intestines, thereby extending the continual and gradual release pattern of melatonin through the night (known as the Mesa Wave®, a flat-topped hill with steep sides).[xvi] There was the desirable fast time to reach the sleep threshold level, which is anticipated to result in improved sleep onset, while the extended median plateau time to 6.7 hours and rapid fall-off in plasma levels at the end of the Mesa Wave may help to improve sleep maintenance and morning alertness.
Over 5,000 healthcare practitioners are estimated to have used REMfresh for their patients and about 320,000 patients are estimated to have purchased and used REMfresh. The continuing, rapid acceptance of REMfresh by patients is observable by several markers, including rapid sales growth and availability among major drug retailers.
###
Data Presented at SLEEP 2019 Poster Sessions:
Monday,
June 10, 2019, 5:15-7:15pm
- (Abstract 0398, Poster Board #135) Improvement
in Sleep Duration and Maintenance with Ion Powered Continuous Release and
Absorption Melatonin in a Cohort of Patients with Chronic Short Sleep
Duration: Results from a Patient-Reported Outcomes Study
- David J. Seiden, M.D., FAASM, David Brodner, M.D., Syed M. Shah,
Ph.D.
- (Abstract 0399, Poster Board #136) Observed Hypnotic Effects with a
Continuous-Release Ion Powered Pump Melatonin Delivery System:
Self-Reported Patient Outcomes Study Results Demonstrating Improvement in
Sleep Duration and Quality
- David J. Brodner, M.D., David
J. Seiden, M.D. FAASM, Syed M. Shah, Ph.D.
The abstracts are published in an online supplement of the journal, Sleep, which is available at https://sleepmeeting.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/SLEEP_42_S1-Website-Final.pdf.
REFERENCES:
[i] Colten, H.R., & Altevogt, B.M. (Eds). (2006). Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/11617.
[ii] Cappuccio, F.P., D’Elia, L., Strazzullo, P., & Miller, M.A. (2010). Sleep duration and all-cause mortality: A systemic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Sleep, 33(5):585-592.
[iii] Watson, N.F., Badr, M.S., Belenky, G., et al. (2015). Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society on the Recommended Amount of Sleep for the Healthy Adult, Methodology and Discussion. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 11(6); 591-592.
[iv] Seiden,D.J., Brodner, D.C., & Shah, S.M. (2018, June 2-6). Improvement in Sleep Maintenance and Sleep Quality with Ion-Powered Pump Continuous Release and Absorption Melatonin: Results from a Self-Reported Patient Outcomes Study (Abstract #0419). Poster presented at SLEEP 2018, Baltimore, Maryland.
[v] Brodner, D.C., Shah, S.M. (2017, June 3-7). REM Absorption Kinetics Trial: A Randomized, Crossover, Pharmacokinetics Evaluation of a Novel Continuous Release and Absorption Melatonin Formulation versus a Same Strength Immediate-Release Formulation in Healthy Adults (Abstract #0396). Poster presented at: SLEEP 2017, Boston, Massachusetts.
[vi] Knutsen, K.L., Turek,, F.W., Patel, S.R., et al (2006). The u-shaped association between sleep and health: the 2 peaks do not mean the same thing. Comment on Patel, SR, et al. Sleep, 29(7): 878-879.
[vii] Lubetkin,, E.I., & Haomiao, J. (2018). Burden of disease due to sleep duration and sleep problems in the elderly. Sleep Health, 4; 182-187.
[viii] Hafner M, et al. (2017). Why sleep matters-the economic costs of insufficient sleep: A cross-country comparative analysis, Rand Quarterly.
[ix] Ikehara, S, et al. (2009). Association of Sleep Duration with Mortality from Cardiovascular Disease and other Causes for Japanese Men and Women: the JACC Study. Sleep, 32(3); 295-301.
[x] U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Real World Evidence. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/scienceresearch/specialtopics/realworldevidence/default.htm
[xi] U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 21st Century Cures Act. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/regulatoryinformation/lawsenforcedbyfda/significantamendmentstothefdcact/21stcenturycuresact/default.htm.
[xii] Colten, H.R., & Altevogt, B.M. (Eds). (2006). Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Sleep Medicine and Research. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/11617.
[xiii] Cappuccio, F.P., D’Elia, L., Strazzullo, P., & Miller, M.A. (2010). Sleep duration and all-cause mortality: A systemic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Sleep, 33(5):585-592.
[xiv] Watson, N.F., Badr, M.S., Belenky, G., et al. (2015). Joint Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society on the Recommended Amount of Sleep for the Healthy Adult, Methodology and Discussion. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 11(6); 591-592.
[xv] European Medicines Agency.(2007). Assessment Report for CIRCADIN.
[xvi] Brodner, D.C. & Shah, S.M. (2017, June 3-7). A Continuous Release Ion Powered Pump Melatonin Delivery System that Overcomes Challenges of Release and Absorption in the Intestines (Abstract #0385). Poster presented at: SLEEP 2017, Boston, Massachusetts.
SOURCES:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/significant-real-world-evidence-confirms-123000247.html
Other related articles published in this Open Access Online Scientific Journal include the following:
2018
https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2018/06/10/patient-reported-outcomes-study-presented-at-sleep-2018-provides-confirmatory-real-world-evidence-of-the-previously-presented-7-hour-action-of-remfresh-the-first-continuous-release-and-absorp/
2017
https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2017/10/02/2017-nobel-prize-in-physiology-or-medicine-jointly-to-jeffrey-c-hall-michael-rosbash-and-michael-w-young-for-their-discoveries-of-molecular-mechanisms-controlling-the-circadian-rhythm/
https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2017/06/11/ultra-pure-melatonin-product-helps-maintain-sleep-for-up-to-7-hours/
2016
https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2016/03/16/sleep-science/
2013
https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2013/03/09/melatonin-and-its-effect-on-acetylcholinesterase-activity-in-erythrocytes/
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