Brivaracetam

BeschreibungBrivaracetam, a novel oral antiepileptic drug with a high affinity for synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A), was approved in Europe and the US as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of partial onset seizures with or without secondary generalization in patients aged 16 or older.42 Brivaracetam is very closely related to levetiracetam, an antiepileptic treatment whose immediate release formulation has been available in the United States as a generic drug since 2008, but whose extended release formulation is under patent protection until 2028. The two drugs, which were both developed by UCB Pharma, are structurally similar with brivaracetam having an n-propyl group at the C-4 position of the pyrrolidinone ring and levetiracetam having a hydrogen at this same position. A systematic investigation of the various substitutions of levetiracetam resulted in the identification of more potent and selective SV2A ligands and ultimately culminated in the discovery of brivaracetam, which has greater affinity for SV2A, improved selectivity, more rapid brain penetration, and faster onset of action against seizures than levetiracetam.

VerwendenTreatment ofTreatment of epilepsy, neuropathic pain and essential tremor.