Valeant reports positive results for epilepsy drug

Valeant Pharmaceuticals has reported positive results for its neuronal potassium channel opener retigabine in phase III trials investigating its use as an adjunctive treatment for adult epilepsy patients with refractory partial-onset seizures.

As part of the RESTORE 1 study, a 1200 mg daily dose of retigabine was compared to placebo in patients taking stable doses of one to three additional anti-epileptic drugs.

Retigabine demonstrated statistically significant results on the primary efficacy endpoints important for regulatory review by both the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Valeant’s chairman and chief executive officer Michael Person expressed his delight over the results for the phase III clinical trial.

“These data confirm the efficacy seen with retigabine in earlier clinical trials and put Valeant at the forefront of development of neuronal potassium channel openers for the treatment of epilepsy and other central nervous system diseases.”

He added that the company expected to submit regulatory applications with the EMEA and FDA before the end of the year.

Earlier this month, Valeant announced the resignation of its chairman Robert A Ingram and its chief executive, president and director Timothy C Tyson.