TAKEDA TO INTRODUCE DRUG IN U.S.; 1ST TIME IN SIX YEARS

Takeda Pharmaceutical has said it will start marketing a sleeping pill in the United States possibly in September, introducing the first drug into the U.S. market in six years. The insomnia pill, to be marketed as Rozerem, targets only the part of the brain that regulates sleep. In addition, it induces a state very similar to natural sleep, the company said. As a result, Rozerem has fewer side effects than existing sleeping pills. Many of the current insomnia drugs affect several parts of the brain, thereby causing such side effects as impairing memory and motor ability, it said.

Yahoo News (http://asia.news.yahoo.com/050711/kyodo/d8b95sp02.html)