Solriamfetol

Overview

Solriamfetol, sold under the brand name Sunosi, is a wakefulness-promoting medication used in the treatment of excessive sleepiness related to narcolepsy and sleep apnea. It is taken by mouth.[1][2][3] WP

Common side effects of solriamfetol include headache, nausea, anxiety, and trouble sleeping. It is a norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI) and is thought to work by increasing levels of the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain. Solriamfetol has also been found to act as a TAAR1 agonist, an action that may also be involved in its effects.[1][2][4] WP

The drug was discovered by a subsidiary of SK Group, which licensed rights outside of eleven countries in Asia to Aerial Pharma in 2011. In addition to its approved indication of excessive sleepiness, solriamfetol is under development for certain other uses including the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), binge eating disorder, and circadian rhythm sleep disorders. The drug is also a potential designer drug.[5][6][7] WP

Drug class

Norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor Wakefulness-promoting agent WP

From the Wikipedia article's infobox.

Uses, dosage and effects

Medical uses

Solriamfetol is used to promote wakefulness in the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness associated with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea in adults. It appears to be more effective in improving excessive daytime sleepiness associated with obstructive sleep apnea than certain other wakefulness-promoting agents including modafinil, armodafinil, and pitolisant.[1][8] WP

Available forms

Solriamfetol is available in the form of 75 and 150 mg oral tablets.[1] WP

Risks and side effects

Side effects

Side effects of solriamfetol include headache, nausea, decreased appetite, insomnia, anxiety, irritability, feeling jittery, dizziness, chest discomfort, heart palpitations, dry mouth, increased sweating, abdominal pain, constipation, and diarrhea.[1] WP

Misuse potential

Solriamfetol at higher-than-approved doses—specifically doses of 300, 600, and 1,200 mg, which are 2 to 8 times the maximum recommended dose—produces drug-liking responses, including elevated mood and feelings of relaxation, that are similar in degree to those of phentermine (a Schedule IV controlled substance). Elevated mood occurred in 2.4% with placebo, 8 to 24% with solriamfetol, and 10 to 18% with phentermine, while feelings of relaxation occurred in 5% with placebo, 5 to 19% with solriamfetol, and 15 to 20% with phentermine. As such, solriamfetol has significant misuse potential and is a controlled substance in the United States. However, solriamfetol showed less misuse potential than Schedule II controlled stimulants like amphetamine and cocaine. Consequently, the misuse potential of solriamfetol was rated as low and it was placed in the Schedule IV controlled substance category alongside phentermine.[1][9] WP

Pharmacology

Pharmacodynamics

Solriamfetol is a norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor (NDRI). It binds to the dopamine transporter (DAT) and the norepinephrine transporter (NET) with affinities (Kᵢ) of 14.2 μM and 3.7 μM, respectively. It inhibits the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine with IC₅₀ values of 2.9 μM and 4.4 μM, respectively. It has weak affinity for the serotonin transporter (Kᵢ = 81.5 μM) and does not appreciably inhibit serotonin reuptake (IC₅₀ > 100 μM). In addition to its dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibition, solriamfetol has been found to act as an agonist of the human and rodent TAAR1 (EC₅₀ = 10–16 μM) at clinically relevant concentrations similar to those of its DAT and NET inhibition. Solriamfetol has no appreciable affinity for a variety of other targets, including the dopamine, serotonin, adrenergic, GABA, adenosine, histamine, orexin, benzodiazepine, and acetylcholine receptors.[1][4] WP

Pharmacokinetics

The oral bioavailability of solriamfetol is approximately 95%. The median time to peak levels of solriamfetol is 2 hours, with a range of 1.25 to 3.0 hours. A high-fat meal has minimal influence on the peak and total concentrations of solriamfetol, but does delay time to peak levels by approximately 1 hour. The apparent volume of distribution of solriamfetol is approximately 199 L. The plasma protein binding of solriamfetol is 13.3% to 19.4% over a concentration range of 0.059 to 10.1 μg/mL. Solriamfetol is minimally metabolized in humans. It shows first-order elimination with oral administration and has an elimination half-life of about 7.1 hours. The half-life of solriamfetol increases in the context of renal impairment. Approximately 95% of a dose of solriamfetol is eliminated in urine as unchanged solriamfetol and 1% or less is eliminated as the minor inactive metabolite N-acetylsolriamfetol.[1] WP

Research

Research

Solriamfetol is under development for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), binge eating disorder, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, depressive disorders, and major depressive disorder. As of March 2026, it is in phase 3 clinical trials for all of these indications. A case report of solriamfetol for the treatment of ADHD has been published. In May 2024, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced a trial of solriamfetol for the treatment of long COVID. In September 2025, a small double-blind, placebo-controlled study found positive results in "improving fatigue and executive functioning in patients with ME/CFS."[6][10–13] WP

History

History

The drug was discovered by a subsidiary of SK Group, which licensed rights outside of eleven countries in Asia to Aerial Pharma in 2011. Aerial ran two Phase II trials of the drug in narcolepsy before selling the license to solriamfetol to Jazz in 2014; Jazz Pharmaceuticals paid Aerial $125 million up front and agreed to pay Aerial and SK up to $272 million in milestone payments, as well as double-digit royalties to SK.[5][14][15] WP

In 2019, solriamfetol was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to improve wakefulness in adults with narcolepsy or obstructive sleep apnea. It was granted orphan drug designation.[16][17][18] WP

Solriamfetol was approved for medical use in the European Union in January 2020.[19] WP

In March 2022, it was announced that Axsome Therapeutics would be acquiring Solriamfetol, under the brand name Sunosi, from Jazz Pharmaceuticals, for an upfront sum of $53 million. Jazz will receive a high single-digit royalty on Axsome's U.S. net sales of Sunosi in the current indication, and a mid-single-digit royalty in the future indications. Axsome will also assume the commitments of Jazz to SK Biopharmaceuticals and Aerial Biopharma.[20] WP

Legal status

Names

During development it has been called SKL-N05, ADX-N05, ARL-N05, and JZP-110.[6] WP

Legal status

In the United States, solriamfetol is a Schedule IV controlled substance, meaning that it has an accepted medical use and a low potential for abuse, but that abuse may lead to physical or psychological dependence. A prescription is required, and can only be refilled up to five times in a six-month period. In countries of the European Union, a prescription is required.[1][19][21][22] WP

Chemistry

Formula

C10H14N2O2 PC

CAS number

178429-62-4 PC

Molar mass (g/mol)

194.23 PC

IUPAC name (computed by PubChem)

[(2R)-2-amino-3-phenylpropyl] carbamate PC

SMILES

C1=CC=C(C=C1)C[C@H](COC(=O)N)N PC

InChIKey

UCTRAOBQFUDCSR-SECBINFHSA-N PC

PubChem CID

10130337

IUPAC name

(2R)-2-Amino-3-phenylpropyl carbamate WP

Harm reduction information

No harm reduction data is on file for this compound yet. That means no dose, timing or combination data from PsychonautWiki or TripSit. Please don't guess a dose from similar compounds. If you have taken it and feel unwell, contact emergency services or a poison control center.

User reports

Pop culture

No references added yet.

Sources

1. Journal / agency Sunosi – solriamfetol tablet, film coated. 16 October 2019
2. Journal / agency Powell J, Piszczatoski C, Garland S. Solriamfetol for Excessive Sleepiness in Narcolepsy and Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Ann Pharmacother. October 2020. doi:10.1177/1060028020915537 · PMID 32270686
3. Journal / agency Abad VC, Guilleminault C. Solriamfetol for the treatment of daytime sleepiness in obstructive sleep apnea. Expert Rev Respir Med. December 2018. doi:10.1080/17476348.2018.1541742 · PMID 30365900
4. Journal / agency Gursahani H, Jolas T, Martin M, Cotier S, Hughes S, Macfadden W, Parks G, Chepke C. Preclinical Pharmacology of Solriamfetol: Potential Mechanisms for Wake Promotion. CNS Spectrums. 2023. doi:10.1017/S1092852923001396
5. Other Ji-young S. SK Biopharmaceuticals' narcolepsy drug on track to hitting US market. 5 March 2018
6. Journal / agency Solriamfetol – Jazz Pharmaceuticals/SK Biopharmaceuticals
7. Other Солриамфетол (Solriamfetol). 1 August 2018
8. Journal / agency Pitre T, Mah J, Roberts S, Desai K, Gu Y, Ryan C, Busse JW, Zeraatkar D. Comparative Efficacy and Safety of Wakefulness-Promoting Agents for Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in Patients With Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. May 2023. doi:10.7326/M22-3473 · PMID 37155992
9. Other Federal Register:: Request Access. 17 June 2019
10. Journal / agency Surman CB, Walsh DM, Horick N, DiSalvo M, Vater CH, Kaufman D. Solriamfetol for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults: A Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study. J Clin Psychiatry. October 2023. doi:10.4088/JCP.23m14934 · PMID 37819836
11. Journal / agency Naguy A, El-Sheshaie A, Elsori DH, Alamiri B. Solriamfetol for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. CNS Spectr. April 2021. doi:10.1017/S1092852921000328 · PMID 33870884
12. Journal / agency NIH to open long COVID clinical trials to study sleep disturbances, exercise intolerance, and post exertional malaise. 7 May 2024
13. Journal / agency Young JL, Powell RN, Powell A, Welling LL, Granata L, Saal J. Solriamfetol improves daily fatigue symptoms in adults with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome after 8 weeks of treatment. Journal of Psychopharmacology. September 2025. doi:10.1177/02698811251368371 · PMID 40958377
14. Journal / agency Sullivan SS, Guilleminault C. Emerging drugs for common conditions of sleepiness: obstructive sleep apnea and narcolepsy. Expert Opinion on Emerging Drugs. 2015. doi:10.1517/14728214.2015.1115480 · PMID 26558298
15. Other Garde D. Jazz bets up to $397M on Aerial's narcolepsy drug. January 14, 2014
16. Journal / agency Drug Trials Snapshots: Sunosi. 16 April 2019
17. Journal / agency Drug Approval Package: Sunosi. 29 April 2019
18. Journal / agency Solriamfetol Orphan Drug Approval
19. Journal / agency Sunosi EPAR. 12 November 2019
20. Other Axsome To Buy Sunosi From Jazz
21. Other Schedules of controlled substances USC 21 812
22. Other Manuals – Practitioner's Manual – Section V

Text and values on this page are quoted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), PubChem (public domain). Each value links to the exact revision it came from.