Pharmaprojects R&D Pipeline News Feed
UCB brings new hope for epileptics
16 Sep 2008
With the approval in Europe of UCB's Vimpat (lacosamide) comes the first success of a new antiepileptic drug for partial onset seizures since 2004, when pregabalin was launched in the UK for as an adjunctive therapy for partial seizures.
Unlike pregabalin, which acts on GABA signalling and antagonism of calcium channels, lacosamide has a novel mechanism of action, inhibiting voltage-gated sodium channels via a mechanism distinct from other sodium channel blockers as well as interacting with collapsin-response mediator protein-2 (CRMP-2).
UCB hopes to launch lacosamide in Germany and the UK shortly, and this will come as welcome news to the many people who cannot adequately control their seizures with current therapies. The novelty of UCB's drug may mean that it succeeds in patients where others therapies have fallen short.
Drugs affecting GABA signalling, such as Marinus Pharmaceuticals' ganoxalone, currently in Phase II trials, seem to be the most popular approach for anti-epileptics. There are currently 5 drugs in development for partial onset seizures, and of these, only lacosamide is known to act via inhibition of voltage-gated sodium channels.
