PDF icon Download PDF
Semin Neurol 2025; 45(02): 287-297
DOI: 10.1055/a-2580-1187
Review Article

The Epilepsy Drug Pipeline: Update on Near-to-Market Therapies

Christopher Elder 
1   Department of Neurology, NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Langone Health, New York, New York
,
Jacob Pellinen 
2   Department of Neurology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado
,
Samuel W. Terman 
3   Department of Neurology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
› Author Affiliations
Funding Pharmaceutical companies were allowed review and approval of the corresponding sections of this manuscript. C.E. serves as a paid speaker for SK Life Science. S.W.T. was supported by the National Institutes of Health K23 AG081463. He has been a paid consultant for Jazz Pharmaceuticals and is currently a paid consultant for Xenon Pharmaceuticals. J.P. has received research support from the Department of Neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute by way of NIH/NCATS Colorado CTSA Grant Number UL1 TR002535, NIH/NINDS, the American Epilepsy Society, and SK Life Science. He has done consulting work and/or attended Scientific Advisory Boards for SK Life Science and Jazz Pharmaceuticals. He is the Chair of the Professional Advisory Board for the Epilepsy Foundation of Colorado and Wyoming and serves on the Professional Advisory Board for the Epilepsy Foundation of America. He is the Epilepsy Section Editor for Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports.
› Further Information
   Permissions and Reprints
Preview

Abstract

Since the first antiseizure medication (ASM) was introduced in 1857, more than 30 medications have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of epilepsy. However, limitations in efficacy and tolerability have led to one-third of patients suffering from uncontrolled seizures. Recent advances in genetics, disease modeling, high-throughput target-based and phenotype-based screening, study design, and identification of novel mechanisms of action or routes of delivery have resulted in more than 200 therapeutics currently under development in the epilepsy pipeline. This study discusses near-to-market drugs in advanced clinical development, with select drugs in earlier stages. Background regarding mechanisms, animal studies, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, efficacy, tolerability, and safety data are provided for each drug when available.

Keywords

epilepsy - antiseizure medications - clinical trials - pipeline

Authors' Contributions

All authors contributed equally to the writing and editing of this manuscript.




Publication History

Article published online:
08 May 2025

© 2025. Thieme. All rights reserved.

Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.
333 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001, USA