Natural Sciences Active Updated Sep 12, 2026
The orexin discovery reshaping narcolepsy treatment
Where it stands as of Sep 12, 2026
Stanford's Emmanuel Mignot is sharing the 2026 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for discovering in 1999 that the brain chemical orexin governs wakefulness, work he did partly by studying his own narcoleptic Chihuahua, Watson. The discovery has already led to new narcolepsy and insomnia drugs, and orexin-replacement compounds like oveporexton are now in development for narcolepsy type 1. It is still unclear how far orexin-based treatment can extend to the much larger population with ordinary insomnia.
The story so far
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Sep 12, 2026 Latest
Stanford's Emmanuel Mignot, who discovered in 1999 that the brain chemical orexin controls wakefulness by studying narcoleptic dogs including his own Chihuahua Watson, is sharing the 2026 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for the finding, which has since led directly to new narcolepsy and insomnia drugs.
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