Eisai reports positive phase III Fycompa trial data

Eisai has announced positive results from a pivotal global phase III study of its antiepileptic drug (AED) Fycompa.

Data from Study 332, which assessed the safety and efficacy of Fycompa compared to placebo in the treatment of primary generalised tonic-clonic seizures in idiopathic generalised epilepsy, were recently published in the medical journal Neurology.

It was shown that one-third more patients treated with perampanel experienced a 50 percent responder rate compared to placebo, while the drug also demonstrated a reduction in seizure frequency and helped more patients to become seizure-free.

This is the only study in which the presence of idiopathic generalised epilepsy with primary generalised tonic-clonic seizures was confirmed by an independent expert committee.

Christian Brandt, head of the department of general epileptology at Bethel Epilepsy Centre in Germany, said: "The results indicate that perampanel can be considered a broad-spectrum AED, so effective with both focal and generalised-onset seizures."

Fycompa recently became the first new treatment approved in Europe for primary generalised tonic-clonic seizures in five years.