A new drug named “tasimelteon” has trialed to treat transitory insomnia caused by night shifts or jet leg and has shown satisfactory results, two new clinical trials concluded.

The phase II study on 39 volunteers, arbitrarily assigned to take 10 to 100 mg of tasimelteon or a placebo. After administration of drug they were monitored at baseline then after five-hour advance of sleep-wake for seven days.

In phase III of the study, included 411 patients who had temporary sleep induced insomnia in sleep-wake cycle. They received 20 to100 mg, depending on the intensity, 30 minutes before bedtime.

The volunteers were monitored to find out their sleep effectiveness and sleep latency. In comparison with placebo, tasimelteon showed improved sleep quality and decreased sleep latency, according to the researchers. They also noticed that patients using tasimelteon illustrated a fast shift in plasma melatonin rhythm.

“The advancement in melatonin analogues, which precisely target melatonin receptors, will also provide us a lot of information and better understanding about the role of the melatonin hormone in the regulation of sleep,” the researchers said in a journal news release.

“Improvement in sleep latency and sleep continuation at a same time with a swing in circadian rhythms, tasimelteon is potent to treat patients with transient insomnia associated with circadian rhythm sleep disorders, together with patients affected by jet leg, or those who work over-night and early-riser workers,” researchers concluded.