Current antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have many side-effects, among others slowing down brain activity, which in turn reduces patients’ ability to react. These side-effects could be eliminated if genes that counteract seizures could be introduced into the brain. Professor Merab Kokaia at Lund University in Sweden has obtained promising results in animal experiments. Epilepsy is a fairly common condition, affecting around 1 in every 100 people in Sweden. It increases the risk of depression, sudden death, injury and disability…

Eisai Inc. announced the results of a Phase III study for the investigational compound perampanel (E2007), a first-in-class, highly selective non-competitive AMPA-type glutamate receptor antagonist, discovered by Eisai and being developed for treatment of partial seizures in patients with epilepsy. The double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study (Study 306) showed that perampanel was well-tolerated and effective in reducing median seizure frequency and increasing responder rates, the primary outcome measures in the United States and European Union, respectively…

One of the most common causes of disability in young adults is spinal cord injury. Currently, there is no proven reparative treatment. Hope that neural stem cells (NSCs) might be of benefit to individuals with severe spinal cord injury has now been provided by the work of a team of researchers, led by Kinichi Nakashima, at Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, in a mouse model of this devastating condition. In the study, mice with severe spinal cord injury were transplanted with NSCs and administered a drug known as valproic acid, which is used in the treatment of epilepsy…

Scientists are reporting a possible explanation for the bone loss that may occur following long-term use of a medicine widely used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and other conditions. The drug, valproate, appears to reduce the formation of two key proteins important for bone strength, they said. Their study, which offers a solution to a long-standing mystery, appears in ACS’ monthly Journal of Proteome Research. Glenn Morris and colleagues point out that use of valproate, first introduced more than 40 years ago for the prevention of seizures in patients with epilepsy, has expanded…

Sun Pharma announced that USFDA has granted an approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) to market a generic version of Keppra® Injection, levetiracetam injection. This generic levetiracetam injection, 100 mg/ml packaged in 500 mg/5 ml single use vials, is equivalent to UCB’s Keppra® Injection 100 mg/ml. Annual sales in US for levetiracetam injection is estimated at $85 million. Levetiracetam injection is indicated as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of partial onset seizures in adults with epilepsy…

Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc. announced the initiation of a global Phase III clinical trial for USL255 (extended-release topiramate), an internally developed program for the management of epilepsy in adults, using the company’s proprietary formulation technology. USL255 is designed to provide convenient once-daily dosing and reduce fluctuations in topiramate blood levels observed with currently available topiramate options. “The initiation of the Phase III trial for USL255 is a key milestone in Upsher-Smith’s vision of becoming a leader in the CNS field,” said Alan Rauch, M.D…

In March 2009, H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) acquired Ovation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now Lundbeck Inc.). As part of the acquisition Lundbeck obtained the rights for clobazam in the US, a product in development for patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS). Lundbeck expects clobazam to be able to provide additional growth opportunities for the US operation as well as for the whole group. Lundbeck is very pleased to announce highly statistically significant positive findings from the pivotal clinical phase III study with clobazam…

Kantar Health, a leading healthcare-focused global consultancy and marketing insights company, has won “Best Poster” in the new investigator category at the 2010 ISPOR (International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research) Annual International Meeting. The poster, “Health Status, Resource Utilization, and Work Productivity for Caregivers of Adults with Epilepsy: A Propensity Score Analysis of National Survey Data,” was developed in conjunction with a major pharmaceutical company and co-written by Marco DiBonaventura, Ph.D…

This study formulates the hypothesis that rufinamide, a drug so far used against epilepsy, may also be effective in bipolar disorder, depressive and anxiety disorders, panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and substance use disorders. It is just an hypothesis based on two cases that needs to be confirmed by specific studies. Rufinamide is a triazole derivative indicated in the USA for adjunctive treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in children 4 years and older and adults…

Children with epilepsy often face multiple challenges - not only seizures but learning, cognitive and school difficulties, side effects from medication, and, not surprisingly, social stigma from their peers. It’s no wonder parents say their children with epilepsy have a substantially worse quality of life than their other, healthy children. But ask a child with epilepsy about his or her life, and the answer? Not so bad. Reporting in the current online edition of the journal Value in Health, lead study author Dr…