William Rosenfeld, MD: Enduring Efficacy of Cenobamate

“We were seeing numbers, in terms of efficacy, around 33% achieving seizure freedom. In terms of the 240 patients, 177 were still remaining on cenobamate for a median time of 30 months, some up to 43 months.”

Post hoc analysis from a phase 3 study presented at the American Epilepsy Society (AES) Annual Meeting, December 4–8, 2020, suggest that reducing doses of concomitant antiseizure medications (ASMs) led to fewer patients with focal seizures discontinuing cenobamate (Xcopri; SK Life Science).

The data, presented by William Rosenfeld, MD, neurologist, Comprehensive Epilepsy Care Center for Children and Adults, in St. Louis, Missouri, showed that patients who continued on cenobamate had greater decreases in mean concomitant ASM use (first vs last dose) compared to those who discontinued treatment. Dose decreases were mostly due to adverse events, mainly during titration or early maintenance phases when cenobamate doses were escalated.

NeurologyLive spoke with Rosenfeld to learn more about cenobamate and the ongoing studies being conducted to assess its efficacy and safety. Cenobamate was approved in late 2019 for the treatment of partial-onset seizures, but Rosenfeld believes these initial data show its potential for treating drug resistant epilepsy.

For more coverage of AES 2020, click here.

REFERENCE

Rosenfeld W, Aboumatar S, Bhatia P, et al. Dose adjustments to concomitant antiseizure medications: post-hoc analysis of a phase 3, open-label study of cenobamate for the treatment of uncontrolled focal seizures. Presented at AES 2020 Annual Meeting; December 4–8, 2020. Abstract 336.