Neurológia pre prax 3/2015

Fycompa® (perampanel): a novel drug for treating epilepsy

Fycompa® (perampanel) is a new drug for difficult to treat focal epilepsy. It is a selective non-competitive antagonist of the AMPA receptor, indicated for the adjunctive treatment of partial-onset seizures with or without secondarily generalisations in patients with epilepsy aged 12 years and older. Perampanel has demonstrated efficacy in a broad spectrum of preclinical models of seizures. Clinical trials Phase I and II showed a favourable safety profile and a good tolerability. Three Phase III studies and the follow-up study (up to 4 years) showed that the adjunctive treatment with perampanel at the dose of 4–12 mg/day has significantly improved the seizure control. Mechanism of action of perampanel is different than one of all the others antiepileptic drugs. It can be presumed that it could suppress seizures even in patients with otherwise pharmacoresistant epilepsy. Perampanel is a promising drug for the adjunctive treatment of partial and secondary generalised seizures of adolescents and adults, with good tolerability, low potential for interactions with other drugs and with favourable pharmacokinetics, which enables once-daily drug administration.

Keywords: receptor antagonist, antiepileptic drug, partial epilepsy, perampanel, refractory epilepsy.