News

Early diagnosis followed by treatment with anti-epileptic medications reduced the frequency of seizures and behavioral problems in three children with both Dravet syndrome and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a study reports. The study, “Epileptic Encephalopathy and Autism: A Complex Interplay,” was published in the Journal of Pediatric…

GW Pharmaceuticals has presented positive data on the safety and effectiveness of Epidiolex, recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat epileptic seizures in Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes, as well as the potential mechanisms behind its anti-epileptic properties. The data were presented at the 13th Annual…

A new system of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) therapy was implanted in the first patient with drug-resistant epilepsy, as part of a global registry launched by LivaNova to evaluate the treatment in a real-world setting. The CORE-VNS registry (NCT03529045) plans to include up to 2,000 patients with drug-resistant epilepsy to be…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted a new drug application (NDA) for UCB’s Nayzilam (midazolam) nasal spray for the acute treatment of seizures including seizure clusters and acute repetitive seizures. Acceptance of this NDA could result in Nayzilam’s approval in the U.S. in early 2019, potentially…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Biocodex’s Diacomit (stiripentol) as an add-on therapy for seizures associated with Dravet syndrome in patients 2 years and older who are undergoing treatment with Onfi (clobazam), an anticonvulsant therapy marketed by Lundbeck. Diacomit is used as an adjunctive (add-on) therapy for treating …

Long-term use of sodium channel blockers in the first five years of disease has been linked to poorer cognitive function in Dravet syndrome patients. The study, “Influence of contraindicated medication use on cognitive outcome in Dravet syndrome and age at first afebrile seizure as a clinical predictor in…

A compound isolated from spider venom called Hm1a helps reduce seizure susceptibility and mortality in mice with Dravet syndrome, according to researchers. Their study, “Selective NaV1.1 activation rescues Dravet syndrome mice from seizures and premature death,” was published in PNAS. Dravet syndrome is resistant to several pharmaceutical therapies…

Specific nerve cells are critically involved in the development of epileptic seizures, hyperactivity, autistic-like behaviors, and cognitive declines in Dravet syndrome, according to a mouse study from Japan. The research, “Impairments in social novelty recognition and spatial memory in mice with conditional deletion of Scn1a in parvalbumin-expressing…

Perampanel, as an add-on therapy, efficiently reduced seizure rates in children with Dravet syndrome, a real-world study shows. The study, “Efficacy and tolerability of perampanel in children and adolescents with pharmacoresistant epilepsy: The first real-world evaluation in Asian pediatric neurology clinics,” was published in the journal Epilepsy &…

The ketogenic diet, which is high in fats and low in carbs, helped reduce the frequency of seizures and improve cognitive function in children with Dravet syndrome who are resistant to standard therapies, a small study in China found. The study, “Prospective study of the efficacy of a ketogenic…