The board of directors of Simcere Pharmaceutical Group Limited announced that, on May 20, 2024, daridorexant hydrochloride tablets, a hypnotic jointly developed by the Group and Idorsia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. ("Idorsia"), obtained the certificate of drug/product registration issued by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Hong Kong, which allowed "QUVIVIQ TABLETS 50MG" and "QUVIVIQ TABLETS 25MG" to be sold, offered for sale, distributed and possessed in Hong Kong. Daridorexant is a dual orexin receptor antagonist ("DORA"), which blocks the binding of the wake-promoting orexin neuropeptides (orexinA and orexin B) with its receptors. Rather than assisting sleep through sedation, Daridorexant only antagonizes the activation of orexin receptors by the orexin neuropeptides and consequently, Daridorexant decreases the wake drive, allowing sleep to occur without altering the sleep architecture.

Phase 3 overseas data of Daridorexant has been reported in The Lancet Neurology: the pivotal studies demonstrated that, at the first and third month of treatment compared to placebo, Daridorexant significantly improved sleep onset and sleep maintenance, and extended the self-reported total sleep time without altering the sleep architecture. In addition, the studies also showed that Daridorexant is safe and well-tolerated with no evidence of rebound insomnia, withdrawal symptoms or drug abuse, which is different from those reported with benzodiazepine receptor agonists. Clinical data on Daridorexant are available for up to 12 months of continuous treatment, which can support the long-term medication of Daridorexant.

In addition to improving nighttime sleep of adults with chronic insomnia disorder, Daridorexant also has a positive impact on the daytime functioning of the patients and is also the only DORA approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) that have an impact on daytime functioning. Previously, Daridorexant has been approved in the United States, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Canada.