Solriamfetol Improves Sleepiness in Early-Morning Shift Workers

FRIDAY, Feb. 6, 2026 (HealthDay News) — For early-morning shift workers with shift work disorder (SWD), treatment with solriamfetol significantly improves sleepiness, according to a study published in the February issue of NEJM Evidence.

Kirsi-Marja Zitting, Ph.D., from Brigham and Women”s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness of solriamfetol, a selective dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, for treating excessive sleepiness in 78 early-morning shift workers (shift starting between 3 and 7 a.m.), with SWD-associated excessive sleepiness.

The researchers found that compared with patients treated with placebo, those treated with solriamfetol were significantly less sleepy after four weeks (9.4-minute longer sleep latency). Solriamfetol treatment was associated with altered sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale difference, −1.2) and changes in clinician and patient ratings of the change in clinical condition (odds ratios, 3.7 and 4.2, respectively). Overall, 55 and 63 percent of patients who received any treatment with solriamfetol and placebo, respectively, reported any adverse event; headache and nausea were the most common adverse events.

“The improvement we saw is clinically meaningful. These workers were able to stay awake and alert throughout a full eight-hour shift, which has real implications for performance, safety, and quality of life,” coauthor Charles A. Czeisler, Ph.D., M.D., also from Brigham and Women”s Hospital, said in a statement. “Shift workers are essential to how our society functions, yet they often pay a hidden biological cost. This study shows we can do better for them.”

Several authors disclosed ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Axsome Therapeutics; Axsome manufactures solriamfetol and partially funded the trial.

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