What is "tasimelteon"

n. A drug, a selective agonist for melatonin receptors, that is under development for the treatment of insomnia and other sleep disorders.

Tasimelteon (trade name Hetlioz) is a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2014 for the treatment of non-24-hour sleep–wake disorder (also called Non-24, N24 and N24HSWD). In June 2014, the European Medicines Agency accepted an EU filing application for tasimelteon and in July 2015, the drug was approved in Europe for the treatment of non-24-hour sleep-wake rhythm disorder in totally blind adults, but not in the rarer case of non-24 in sighted people.

Tasimelteon is a selective agonist for the melatonin receptors MT and MT, similar to other members of the melatonin receptor agonist class of which ramelteon (2005) and agomelatine (2009) were the first approved. As a treatment for N24HSWD, as with melatonin or other melatonin derivatives, the patient may experience improved sleep timing while taking the drug. Reversion to baseline sleep performance occurs within a month of discontinuation.