Eisai epilepsy drug ratified by Scottish Medicines Consortium

Eisai has received approval for its epilepsy treatment Zebinix to be used among Scottish patients in restricted applications.

The Scottish Medicines Consortium has ratified the eslicarbazepine acetate-based treatment as an add-on therapy in adults with partial-onset seizures, with or without secondary generalisation, following a review of its clinical and commercial benefits.

In accordance with the consortium's ruling, the therapy will be used only among hard-to-treat patients who have proven unresponsive to alternative drugs.

Zebinix has been available in Europe since April 2009 and has accumulated more than 9,000 months of patient exposure in its first year on the market.

Martin Brodie, professor of medicine and clinical pharmacology at the University of Glasgow, said the development was positive news, adding: "It gives physicians another string to their therapeutic bow and people with epilepsy the possibility of improved seizure control."

Last month, Eisai welcomed the decision made by the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to broaden access to Alzheimer's therapies, such as its drug Aricept, among early-stage patients.