RODRIGO O. M. A DE SOUZA
Chemistry Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

We would like to introduce the new column that arrives in our first issue of 2022 called “API of the Month”. This initiative will disclose the chemistry steps needed to synthesize recent FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). This month we will focus on Daridorexant. We invite our readers to send us comments and requests on specific ingredients you would like to learn more on in this column.

Daridorexant (1) sold under the brand name Quviviq was chosen to be our first API because it’s the first molecule approved in 2022 by FDA, on January 7th by Idorsia Pharmaceuticals, a company that emerged after Johnson & Johnson takeover on Actelion Pharmaceuticals. Daridorexant is used for the treatment of adult patients with insomnia, especially those with sleep onset problems and/or sleep maintenance. It works as a dual orexin receptor antagonist (DORA), which blocks the binding of the wake-promoting neuropeptides orexi ... ...