The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7470 p318
22 September 2007

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Novel anticonvulsant for Lennox-Gastaut patients

A novel anticonvulsant medicine will be launched in the UK next week for patietns with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome — a severe and difficult-to-treat form of epilepsy that begins in childhood. Available from Eisai, rufinamide (Inovelon) was granted orphan drug status by the European Commission in 2004 for treatment of the syndrome.

Although the mechanism of rufinamide’s action is not fully understood, it is believed to modulate the activity of voltage-gated sodium channels, prolonging their inactive state and blocking the spread of seizure activity.

Rufinamide is licensed as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in patients aged four years or older.