Joseph Sullivan, MD: The Benefits of Fenfluramine Treatment in Dravet Syndrome
The professor of neurology and pediatrics and director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Center at the University of California, San Francisco, discussed his personal experience with fenfluramine and the advantages that the drug may present when treating patients with Dravet syndrome.
“In the study, there were a significant higher number of patients that reported very much improved. We feel as though that this is a more of a global assessment of things that are beyond just seizures.”
At the 73rd annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society (AES), which took place December 6-10, 2019, in Baltimore, Maryland, Zogenix revealed additional data from their phase 3 clinical trial of fenfluramine, demonstrating a significant reduction in convulsive seizure frequency and improvement in everyday executive function in patients with Dravet syndrome. The FDA had previously accepted the NDA for fenfluramine in November 2019 for the treatment of Dravet syndrome.
The rare, catastrophic form of epilepsy is associated with a significant amount of seizure burden on patients and caregivers, which can have a direct effect on the patient’s quality of life. As one of the lead investigators in the fenfluramine clinical trial program, Joseph Sullivan MD, professor of neurology and pediatrics, and director of the University of California, San Francisco Pediatric Epilepsy Center at Benioff Children’s Hospital, understands the direct impact that fenfluramine, if approved, can have on patients with Dravet syndrome.
Sullivan sat down with NeurologyLive at AES to discuss how fenfluramine can reduce seizure frequency and improve quality of life for patients with Dravet syndrome.
For more coverage of AES 2019, click here.
