Eisai's Fycompa Reduces Seizure Frequency In Study

Eisai reported that its investigational drug Fycompa (perampanel) reduced seizure frequency for up to two years in its 307 extension study.

A total of 1,218 adolescents and adults with uncontrolled partial onset seizures took part in the 307 extension study. Findings show that perampanel provided sustained reductions in frequency of seizures over an extended period of time of up to two years. The drug was able to achieve up to 90 percent reduction from baseline in secondary generalized seizures in patients with at least two years perampanel exposure and secondary generalized seizures. Of the 694 patients, 5.3 percent with maintenance data for at least one year achieved freedom from seizures for the whole year. Researchers reported that safety and seizure responses were comparable across 249 centers in 39 countries.

Perampanel is a first-in-class epilepsy treatment indicated as adjunctive therapy for partial onset seizures, with or without secondarily generalized seizures, in patients with epilepsy aged 12 years and above. It is the only anti-epileptic drug licensed to selectively target AMPA receptors, a protein in the brain implicated in the spread of seizures. The drug offers convenient once-daily dosing and is the only approved new-generation partial onset anti-epilepsy treatment for adolescents from its launch. Perampanel was discovered and developed by Eisai in Europe and Japan, awarded approval by European Commission in July 2012.

Professor Bernhard Steinhoff, from Epilepsiezentrum Kork in Germany, said, “The 307 study data provide evidence of the sustained seizure control and freedom that long-term perampanel use can provide people with epilepsy, regardless of where they live in the world. They also confirm the safety and tolerability of the therapy as seen in earlier clinical trials, but over longer treatment periods; thereby adding to the growing weight of evidence supporting use of this first-in-class medication.”

Results from the trial were published online in the clinical journal Epilepsia.