Epilepsy News and Research

Latest Epilepsy News and Research

Icagen, Pfizer select novel compound for further clinical development in Nav1.7 program

Icagen, Inc. today provided an update on its sodium channel program for pain and related disorders which is being conducted in collaboration with Pfizer. As previously reported, the companies recently conducted a clinical study in healthy volunteers of several collaboration compounds targeting the sodium ion channel Nav1.7.

1 Dec 2010

Data on UCB’s anti-epileptic drugs to be presented at AES annual meeting

New data on UCB's anti-epileptic drug (AED) Vimpat (lacosamide) C-V will be presented at the 64th annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society (AES), taking place at the San Antonio Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas from December 3 to 7, 2010. Data will also be presented on Keppra XR and the investigative epilepsy therapy, brivaracetam.

1 Dec 2010

New tool helps doctors gauge how well they care for people with Parkinson's disease

The American Academy of Neurology has developed a new tool to help doctors gauge how well they are caring for people with Parkinson's disease. The new quality measures are published in the November 30, 2010, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

30 Nov 2010

DePuy Spine, Lanx, Medtronic, Zimmer Spine and Codman support NREF's post-residency clinical fellowships

The NREF has reached agreements with Medtronic, Lanx and Zimmer Spine to provide funding to the NREF in support of the Foundation's post-residency clinical fellowship grant program. The NREF is pleased to report that it has renewed its agreements with Codman & Shurtleff, Inc. and DePuy Spine, Inc., who supported the inaugural year of the fellowship program in 2010.

29 Nov 2010

New findings provide insight into brain development

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators have identified key components of a signaling pathway that controls the departure of neurons from the brain niche where they form and allows these cells to start migrating to their final destination. Defects in this system affect the architecture of the brain and are associated with epilepsy, mental retardation and perhaps malignant brain tumors.

25 Nov 2010

Doctors treating female epilepsy patients have to consider specific hormonal situation

Doctors treating female epilepsy patients have to take account of the specific hormonal situation in women. Such an approach can often reduce the limitations imposed by the disease. This is the conclusion reached by Sabine Weil of Munich University and her co-authors in the latest issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International

25 Nov 2010

Breastfeeding while remaining on epilepsy medications may not affect child's IQ

There's good news for women with epilepsy. Breastfeeding your baby while taking your seizure medication may have no harmful effect on your child's IQ later on, according to a study published in the November 24, 2010, online issue of Neurology-, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

25 Nov 2010

Breastfeeding while taking epilepsy drugs may not affect child's IQ

New research from the Emory University School of Medicine offers reassurance for nursing mothers with epilepsy. According to a study published in the November 24 online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, breastfeeding a baby while taking a seizure medication may have no harmful effect on the child's IQ later in life.

24 Nov 2010

Vertex submits NDA for telaprevir for treating hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced that it has completed the submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking approval for telaprevir, Vertex's investigational treatment for people with hepatitis C.

23 Nov 2010

NC family hopes to win Pepsi Refresh Project grant to fund research for Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood

A Rolesville, NC family is hoping to win the Pepsi Refresh Project that could help to find a cure for a rare neurological disorder for which there is no current cure. Matthew Wuchich, age 3, was diagnosed with Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood or AHC when he was 18 months old. Winning the grant is important to the family and to others with the disease since rare diseases often are overlooked by more common ailments.

23 Nov 2010

Cyberonics second quarter net sales increase 17% to $47.5 million

Cyberonics, Inc. today announced results for the quarter ended October 29, 2010.

22 Nov 2010

Epilepsy Foundation Northwest adds Alaska to territory

The Epilepsy Foundation Northwest (EFNW) announced the addition of Alaska to its affiliate, making it the largest territory in the nation for the Epilepsy Foundation organization. Programs and services provided by EFNW for people living with epilepsy and their families will now officially include Alaska.

22 Nov 2010

Comprehensive guide to current practice of intraoperative neurophysiology

A new book entitled "Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring" has been published by Cambridge University Press, co-authored by Nationwide Children's Hospital Pediatric Neurologists Gloria M. Galloway, MD, and Khaled M. Zamel, MD; Marc R. Nuwer, MD, of UCLA; and Jaime R. Lopez, MD of Stanford University.

20 Nov 2010

Anavex closes private placement and issued securities

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. announces that it closed a private placement and issued securities to settle debt owed by the Company.

20 Nov 2010

Researchers document novel form of splicing in nerve cell cytoplasm

Cells have their own version of the cut-and-paste editing function called splicing. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have documented a novel form of splicing in the cytoplasm of a nerve cell, which dictates a special form of a potassium channel protein in the outer membrane.

19 Nov 2010

Pharmigene receives patent for methods to detect genetic alleles in SJS and TENS

Pharmigene, a leader in advancing personalized medicine and reducing severe adverse reactions to drugs through genetic-based diagnostic solutions, announced it has been granted patents in the United States, Europe, Australia, Singapore and Taiwan. The patents cover methods to detect the presence of key genetic alleles in individual patients being considered for treatment with drugs that have been linked to the development of adverse drug reactions including Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis.

17 Nov 2010

Study reveals true effects of malaria on African generations

Almost a third of cerebral malaria survivors developed epilepsy or other behavioral disorders in the most comprehensive study to date of the disease in African children, solidifying the link between malaria and neuropsychiatric disorders that affect hundreds of thousands of children.

17 Nov 2010

Handwriting problems in autistic children likely to continue into teenage years: Study

A new study suggests that the handwriting problems that affect children with autism are likely to continue into their teenage years.

16 Nov 2010

Neurologix third quarter net loss decreases to $2.3 million

Neurologix, Inc., a biotechnology company developing innovative gene therapies for the brain and central nervous system ("CNS"), today reported its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2010.

12 Nov 2010

Neurons recycle protein components for neurotransmitter release

Neurons communicate via chemical transmitters which they store in the bubble-like synaptic vesicles and release as required. To be able to react reliably to stimulation, neurons must have a certain number of "acutely releasable" vesicles. With the help of a new method, neuroscientists at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in G-ttingen have now discovered that neurons systematically recycle the protein components necessary for transmitter release and in this way guarantee the reliability of signal transmission in the brain.

11 Nov 2010