Anticonvulsant News and Research

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FDA accepts NDA review for new anticonvulsant drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the New Drug Application (NDA) seeking marketing approval for Retigabine. In addition, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) confirmed on November 17, 2009 that the MAA (Marketing Authorization Application) was successfully validated thus enabling the MAA review to commence.

30 Dec 2009

$225,000 funding for promising epilepsy research

The Epilepsy Research Foundation (ERF), a unique joint venture of non-profit epilepsy organizations, and the Milken Family Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation, today announced two new grants recognizing promising epilepsy research in clinical development, totaling $225,000 in funding. The grant awards were announced by the Epilepsy Therapy Project and the Epilepsy Foundation, as well as the Milken Family Foundation, during the 7th Judith Hoyer Lecture in Epilepsy at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society in Boston, MA.

7 Dec 2009

USP releases new CRMs for carbamazepine, phenytoin, and theophylline

To help bring greater certainty to the measurement of medication levels in a patient's bloodstream for three drugs with narrow therapeutic ranges, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is releasing new certified reference materials (CRMs).

19 Nov 2009

Folate-enriched prescription medical food lowers medical costs of patients with peripheral neuropathy

Diabetic patients diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy had lower medical costs and reduced use of anticonvulsant medications when treated with a folate-enriched prescription medical food, according to data presented today at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research 12th Annual European Congress.

28 Oct 2009

HealthCore study shows Metanx tablets reduces health plan costs

27 Oct 2009

Mylan Pharmaceuticals receives approval for Topiramate Capsules

Mylan Inc. today announced that its subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Topiramate Capsules (Sprinkle), 15 mg and 25 mg.

15 Oct 2009

New anticonvulsant compound prevents seizure progression in model of epilepsy

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have identified a new anticonvulsant compound that has the potential to stop the development of epilepsy. The findings are published in the March issue of the journal Epilepsia.

4 May 2009

Anti-seizure drugs may increase risk of cardiovascular problems

An important clinical repercussion in the treatment of epilepsy has been discovered by a research team led by Scott Mintzer, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neurology and the Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.

20 Mar 2009

Taurine: Key to the visual toxicity of an anti-epileptic drug for children?

Vigabatrin (Sabril), first intention molecule for the treatment of epilepsy in children, in many cases produces secondary effects that lead to an irreversible loss of vision.

18 Feb 2009

Doctors question FDA suicide alert on anticonvulsant drugs

Medical specialists at the nation's largest professional meeting on epilepsy discussed multiple questions and concerns they have about data presented by the FDA in support of its recent suicide alert on anticonvulsant drugs (AEDs) and the potential effect of the federal agency's analyses on clinical practice and the way AED drug trials are to be conducted in the future.

10 Dec 2008

WHO makes urgent call for services for mental disorders to be scaled up

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says millions of people with mental disorders in the developing world are deprived of necessary treatment and care and has called for an urgent scaling up of services.

13 Oct 2008

High cholesterol levels drop naturally in children on high-fat antiseizure diet

Elevated cholesterol levels return to normal or near normal levels over time in four out of 10 children with uncontrollable epilepsy treated with the high-fat ketogenic diet, according to results of a Johns Hopkins Children's Center study reported in the Journal of Child Neurology.

26 Aug 2008

Generic Trileptal (oxcarbazepine) approved in U.S.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first generic versions of Trileptal (oxcarbazepine), an anticonvulsant drug.

10 Oct 2007

Ovation Pharmaceuticals advances development pipeline with new phase III epilepsy study

OVATION Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the initiation of a pivotal Phase III clinical trial evaluating clobazam, a unique 1,5 benzodiazapine with significant anticonvulsant properties, as adjunctive treatment for patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), one of the most severe forms of childhood epilepsy that frequently persists into adulthood.

5 Sep 2007

Urgent need for better understanding of bipolar disease in children and adolescents

The number of visits to a doctor's office that resulted in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents has increased by 40 times over the last decade, reported researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

4 Sep 2007

Anticonvulsant medication gabapentin effective for fibromyalgia pain

New research supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) shows that the anticonvulsant medication gabapentin, which is used for certain types of seizures, can be an effective treatment for the pain and other symptoms associated with the common, often hard-to-treat chronic pain disorder, fibromyalgia.

14 Jun 2007