Pain relief by targeting nonrestorative sleep in fibromyalgia: a phase 3 randomized trial of bedtime sublingual cyclobenzaprine, 2025, Lederman et al.

Chandelier

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Pain relief by targeting nonrestorative sleep in fibromyalgia: a phase 3 randomized trial of bedtime sublingual cyclobenzaprine

Lederman, Seth; Arnold, Lesley M; Vaughn, Ben; Engels, Jean M; Kelley, Mary; Sullivan, Gregory M

Abstract
Objective Fibromyalgia is the prototypic nociplastic chronic pain syndrome, characterized by widespread pain, nonrestorative sleep, and fatigue.
We evaluated efficacy and safety of bedtime TNX-102 SL (sublingual cyclobenzaprine) 5.6 mg for treatment of fibromyalgia.

Methods
This phase 3, double-blind, multicenter, placebo-controlled trial randomized patients 1:1 to once-nightly TNX-102 SL 2.8 mg for 2 weeks, followed by 5.6 mg for 12 weeks, or to matching placebo (NCT05273749).
The primary endpoint was change from baseline at week 14 in weekly average of daily diary pain intensity scores.
Secondary endpoints included Patient Global Impression of Change, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (Revised) Symptoms and Function domains, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System instruments for Sleep Disturbance and Fatigue, and daily diary sleep quality scores.

Results
Overall, 81.0% (n = 187/231) and 79.6% (n = 179/225) of patients receiving TNX-102 SL and placebo completed the trial, respectively. Treatment with TNX-102 SL vs placebo was associated with significantly greater reductions in the primary pain endpoint (P < .001; mean [SE], −1.8 [0.12] vs −1.2 [0.12]) and in each of the 6 secondary endpoints (P ≤ .001; all).
The most common systemic treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) with TNX-102 SL and placebo were COVID-19 (4.3% vs 3.1%, respectively), headache (3.0% vs 1.8%), and somnolence (3.0% vs 1.3%); the most common TEAEs overall were local administration-site reactions including oral hypoesthesia (23.4% vs 0.4%), product taste abnormal (11.3% vs 0.9%), and oral paresthesia (6.9% vs 0.9%), which were transient and self-limited.

Conclusion
Bedtime TNX-102 SL treatment was associated with significant improvements in fibromyalgia symptoms and function and was well tolerated.

Web | DOI | PMC | PDF | Pain Medicine
 
Treatment with TNX-102 SL vs placebo was associated with significantly greater reductions in the primary pain endpoint (P < .001; mean [SE], −1.8 [0.12] vs −1.2 [0.12])
A between group difference of 0.6.

The MCID for NRS (primary endpoint) is 1-2 for chronic muscoskeletal pain.

I can’t find any info about how successful the blinding was.
 
This feels a lot like planting flowers to grow seeds to me.

Did medicine just simply decide to ignore causality or what? This is so obviously back-asswards.
 
It’s described as a muscle relaxant, sort of, but seems related to tricyclic antidepressants.

How it works is unclear. In any case, it is known to inhibitserotonin and norepinephrine reuptake and to block serotonin, adrenergic, histamine, and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. Chemically, it is very similar to tricyclic antidepressants like amitriptyline
From wikipedia, also here’s a link to the info on what it acts on

And has been doing the rounds for a while
 
Thanks. Unfortunately it doesn’t tell us much as far as I can tell, seems very much a drug company report on levels in the blood and safety rather than mechanisms.

Why have they given it the silly acronym? Presumably to try and get a new patent or trade ark or whatever and make money of it as straight cyclobenzaprine is a generic?
 
Why have they given it the silly acronym? Presumably to try and get a new patent or trade ark or whatever and make money of it as straight cyclobenzaprine is a generic?
As I understand it the new formulation is sub-lingual, which could be significant for its use as a sleep aid as a result of the theoretically faster/more-predictable response time. Whether that holds true and whether the drug is of any real utility for pwFibro or pwME, I've no idea, but it does seem as though this is a genuinely new route of administration for this drug.
 
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