UCB’s Vimpat shows efficacy in seizure prevention

UCB has published new clinical data which demonstrates the efficacy of its drug Vimpat in preventing seizures among epilepsy patients.

Pooled data from three phase II and III clinical trials has illustrated Vimpat's effectiveness in reducing partial onset seizures, regardless of the type of concomitant antiepileptic drug (AED) used.

This conclusion was drawn following extensive post-hoc exploratory analyses of patient data from 1,294 difficult-to-treat test subjects and supports the use of Vimpat as an adjunctive therapy with a wide variety of different agents.

Dr John-Kenneth Sake, head of epilepsy at UCB's global medical affairs division, said the data also "suggests the need for prospectively designed trials to better evaluate the potential for additive or synergistic effects of various AED combinations".

Vimpat has been commercially available in the EU since 2008 and was subsequently released in the US in 2009.

Strong sales of the drug were cited as a key contributing factor in UCB's better-than-expected financial performance during the 2010 full-year period.