Purdue Pharma announced the pill, Intermezzo, was approved by the FDA. The drug is available at pharmacies nationwide. Intermezzo (generic zolpidem tartrate) uses the same active ingredient as Ambien, which was first approved for use in the U.S. in 1992. If you have used Ambien or even seen the commercials, you know it is only recommended for persons who have a full eight hours to devote to sleep. Intermezzo is shorter-acting, lasting only four hours. According to the FDA, Intermezzo should only be used if you have at least four hours of bedtime remaining.

Intermezzo was developed by Transcept Pharmaceuticals and is the Company’s first FDA approved product. Intermezzo is being marketed in the United States under the terms of a collaboration agreement between Transcept and Purdue Pharma L.P.

“Until today, patients with insomnia did not have an appropriate or FDA approved treatment option to take in the middle of the night because all other prescription sleep aids are approved to be used only at bedtime,” said Thomas Roth, Ph.D., Director of Sleep Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital. “Intermezzo represents an important treatment option for those insomnia patients who suffer difficulty falling back to sleep after a middle of the night awakening and seek a sleep aid that they can use only when they really need it to fall back to sleep in the middle of the night.”

Source: Transcept Pharmaceuticals