General Information

Edluar (zolpidem tartrate) is a gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) A receptor positive modulator.  

Edluar is specifically indicated for the short-term treatment of insomnia characterized by difficulties with sleep initiation.

Edluar is supplied as a 5 mg or 10 mg sublingual tablet designed for oral administration. The dose should be individualized. However, the recommended initial dose for adults is 10 mg once daily immediately before bedtime. The total Edluar daily dose should not exceed 10 mg. The recommended dose of Edluar in the elderly or debilitated population is 5 mg once daily immediately before bedtime. Edluar should not be given with or immediately after a meal. The sublingual tablet should be placed under the tongue and allowed to disintegrate. It should not be swallowed and should not be taken with water.

Mechanism of Action

Side Effects

• drowsiness
• dizziness
• diarrhea
• headache

The Edluar drug label comes with the following Black Box Warning: Complex sleep behaviors including sleep-walking, sleep-driving, and engaging in other activities while not fully awake may occur following use of Edluar. Some of these events may result in serious injuries, including death. Discontinue Edluar immediately if a patient experiences a complex sleep behavior. 

Clinical Trial Results

The FDA approval of Edluar was based on several studies:

Chronic Insomnia

Study One
This double-blind, parallel group, 5-week trial enrolled 75 adult subjects with chronic insomnia. The subjects received two doses of zolpidem tartrate or placebo. On objective (polysomnographic) measures of sleep latency and sleep efficiency, zolpidem 10 mg was superior to placebo on sleep latency for the first 4 weeks and on sleep efficiency for weeks 2 and 4. Zolpidem was comparable to placebo on number of awakenings at both doses studied.

Study Two
This double-blind, parallel group, 4-week trial enrolled 141 adult subjects with chronic insomnia who received two doses of zolpidem or placebo. Zolpidem 10 mg was superior to placebo on a subjective measure of sleep latency for all 4 weeks, and on subjective measures of total sleep time, number of awakenings, and sleep quality for the first treatment week.

Transient Insomnia

Study One
This double-blind, parallel group, single-night trial enrolled 462 adult subjects experiencing transient insomnia during the first night in a sleep laboratory. The subjects received two doses of zolpidem tartrate oral tablets (7.5 and 10 mg) or placebo. Both zolpidem doses were superior to placebo on objective (polysomnographic) measures of sleep latency, sleep duration, and number of awakenings.

Study Two
This double-blind, crossover, 2-night trial enrolled 35 elderly adults (mean age 68) experiencing transient insomnia during the first two nights in a sleep laboratory. The subjects received four doses of zolpidem (5, 10, 15 and 20 mg) or placebo. All zolpidem doses were superior to placebo on the two primary PSG parameters (sleep latency and efficiency) and all four subjective outcome measures (sleep duration, sleep latency, number of awakenings, and sleep quality).

Edluar was also studied for the following latent effects.

Next-day residual effects
Seven studies enrolled normal adult subjects. In three studies in adults (including one study in a phase advance model of transient insomnia) and in one study in elderly subjects, a small but statistically significant decrease in performance was observed in the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) when compared to placebo. Studies of zolpidem tartrate in non-elderly patients with insomnia did not detect evidence of next-day residual effect.

Rebound effects
In studies evaluating sleep on the nights following discontinuation of zolpidem tartrate, there was no objective (polysomnographic) evidence of rebound insomnia at the recommended doses.

Memory impairment
Controlled studies in adults utilizing objective measures of memory yielded no consistent evidence of next-day memory impairment following the recommended administration of zolpidem tartrate. 

Effects on sleep stages
In studies that measured the percentage of sleep time spent in each sleep stage, zolpidem tartrate has generally been shown to preserve sleep stages. Sleep time spent in stages 3 and 4 (deep sleep) was found comparable to placebo with only inconsistent, minor changes in REM (paradoxical) sleep at the recommended dose.