{"text":[[{"start":3.2,"text":"A good night’s sleep is invaluable. Big Pharma and smaller peers think so too, investing in treatments designed to improve the quantity and quality of sleep. Look at Eli Lilly of the US, paying up to $7.8bn for Centessa, one of whose narcolepsy drugs is readying for phase 3 efficacy trials. Sleep disorder biotech Avadel Pharmaceutical even spawned a bidding war, ultimately going to Ireland-headquartered Alkermes for up to $2.4bn."}],[{"start":35.5,"text":"The sector’s attractions are clear as day. More people worry about poor sleep than excess weight. About a third of adults in western countries suffer sleep problems at least once a week, says the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. That pips those eligible for weight-loss GLP-1s. But like the latter, sleep disorder treatments are also likely to be sold directly to consumers."}],[{"start":57.95,"text":"Science and governments would appear to be on board too. A UK parliamentary paper on the topic noted sleep was as important as food and water; although nearly a decade later, there’s been little by way of action. Government concerns reflect links with a host of diseases and conditions, among them Alzheimer’s, cancer and diabetes."}],[{"start":76.65,"text":"Rand Europe has even put a value on the cost of lost sleep: insomniacs would trade an average 14 per cent of their annual household income to feel better rested — taken nationally, says the research body, that’s up to $130bn."}],[{"start":92.5,"text":"Given that, the bigger question is why there aren’t more drugmakers moving in. One reason for this is the huge outlay in terms of time and money: a 15-year gestation period, $2bn-plus bill and wafer-thin odds of success."}],[{"start":106.6,"text":"Hence much of the funding so far has gone into sleep aids and trackers such as those made by Oura — which plans to list later this year — and Whoop, which monitors the stages of sleep as well as hours. Eight Sleep, maker of bed products that claim to foster the natural circadian temperature rhythm during sleep, was valued at $1.5bn after a March funding round."}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":129.6,"text":"Still, there is a small Petri dish of early-stage sleep biotech companies. One such is the UK-based astronauTx, which aims to treat neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s by improving sleeping patterns. It aims to be ready for Phase 1 testing — determining it is safe for humans — next year."}],[{"start":148.7,"text":"These newcomers benefit from evolving technology that can help shrink timeframes and costs. Many parts of the process, from screening for candidates to testing the drugs through to clinical trials, can be done more speedily and efficiently by harnessing AI. "}],[{"start":164.79999999999998,"text":"More quotidian kit helps too. The need to keep trial candidates capped in a tangle of electrodes physically hooked up to monitors is being superseded thanks to innovations such as Beacon Biosignal’s headband, which can be worn anywhere. Time at last to replace counting sheep with counting dollars."}],[{"start":189.54999999999998,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1780748220_4177.mp3"}