Therapy Analysis - Epilepsy
Final thoughts
Our understanding of epilepsy has increased enormously in recent times and research is ongoing into promising new drugs, gene therapies and devices that have proved effective in early experiments. Pharmaprojects' data shows a relatively robust pipeline for the disease, with 22 original compounds currently in preclinical studies. This number decreases to 5 drugs which have reached Phase III trials. The multiple stumbling blocks of clinical development mean that a sustained effort is still needed to increase the number of new therapies available to epilepsy patients.
In conclusion, whilst recently approved drugs have raised the bar in terms of the treatment available to epilepsy patients, up to 30% of sufferers still do not experience symptom relief from currently available therapeutics. Due to the dangerous nature of many types of seizures, and the imperative for adequate therapeutic control, there is clearly still room in this market for drugs targeting this population. New developmental drugs also have a wide margin for improvement in better controlling epilepsy in patients who respond to treatment and reducing the side-effects experienced, aside from providing treatment options for patients with uncontrolled seizures. It can only be hoped that significant advances in scientific knowledge and drug development will lead to a bright future for the treatment of this historical condition.
Mohamed Farah
Pharmaprojects Analyst
Pharmaprojects - Pharmaceutical Research & Development Pipeline Intelligence
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