UCB announces positive Keppra XR study results

UCB has announced positive phase III clinical trial results for Keppra XR (levetiracetam), its extended release tablets for the treatment of epilepsy.

The firm reports that the drug significantly reduced the frequency of partial onset seizures when used as an adjunctive therapy in patients with refractory epilepsy.

Reporting the results at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society in Philadelphia, the firm noted that the drug met its primary endpoint for seizure reduction over placebo during the course of treatment.

Iris Loew-Friedrich, global head of development at UCB, said: “These data show that the once-daily, extended-release formulation of Keppra reduced the frequency of partial onset seizures in patients with uncontrolled epilepsy and was generally well tolerated.”

Dr Jukka Peletola of the Department of Neurology at Tampere University Hospital said there exists a continuing need for new antiepileptic drug options and formulations of treatments offering extended release for patients to boost compliance and enhance convenience.

She added that approximately a tenth of patients with refractory partial onset epilepsy receiving the new formulation of Keppra attained freedom from seizures.

In January 2007, UCB announced that the European Commission had granted marketing approval for Keppra as an adjunctive therapy for primary generalised tonic-clonic seizures in patients over the age of 12 with idiopathic generalised epilepsy.