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Drug Development for Rare Paediatric Epilepsies: Current State and Future Directions

Auvin, S; Avbersek, A; Bast, T; Chiron, C; Guerrini, R; Kaminski, RM; Lagae, L; ... Cross, JH; + view all (2019) Drug Development for Rare Paediatric Epilepsies: Current State and Future Directions. Drugs , 79 (18) pp. 1917-1935. 10.1007/s40265-019-01223-9. Green open access

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Abstract

Rare diseases provide a challenge in the evaluation of new therapies. However, orphan drug development is of increasing interest because of the legislation enabling facilitated support by regulatory agencies through scientific advice, and the protection of the molecules with orphan designation. In the landscape of the rare epilepsies, very few syndromes, namely Dravet syndrome, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and West syndrome, have been subject to orphan drug development. Despite orphan designations for rare epilepsies having dramatically increased in the past 10 years, the number of approved drugs remains limited and restricted to a handful of epilepsy syndromes. In this paper, we describe the current state of orphan drug development for rare epilepsies. We identified a large number of compounds currently under investigation, but mostly in the same rare epilepsy syndromes as in the past. A rationale for further development in rare epilepsies could be based on the match between the drug mechanisms of action and the knowledge of the causative gene mutation or by evidence from animal models. In case of the absence of strong pathophysiological hypotheses, exploratory/basket clinical studies could be helpful to identify a subpopulation that may benefit from the new drug. We provide some suggestions for future improvements in orphan drug development such as promoting paediatric drug investigations, better evaluation of the incidence and the prevalence, together with the natural history data, and the development of new primary outcomes.

Type: Article
Title: Drug Development for Rare Paediatric Epilepsies: Current State and Future Directions
Location: New Zealand
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1007/s40265-019-01223-9
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40265-019-01223-9
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Developmental Neurosciences Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10086993
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