Management of Focal Onset Seizures With Brivaracetam Adjunctive Therapy: Iryna Leunikava, MSc

WATCH TIME: 5 minutes

"This study marks a significant milestone in understanding the positive clinical outcomes associated with brivaracetam, providing a new perspective on seizure management."

Epilepsy is the recurrent manifestation of seizures in a reasonable time frame and without being attributable to a reversible cause. Brivaracetam (Briviact; UCB Pharma), a third-generation antiepileptic racetam derivative and a 4-n-propyl analogue of levetiracetam (Keppra; UCB Pharma), is used as adjuvant therapy for focal onset seizures and has shown promising results with minimal adverse effect reactions in clinical trials.¹ Since its approval in 2016, the antiepileptic agent that has been used in several analyses at various dosages in adults that have partial-onset seizures refractory to conventional treatment.

In a recent interim analysis of the ongoing, prospective, noninterventional BRITOBA study (EP0103), investigators observed the positive impact of introducing adjunctive brivaracetam earlier on overall quality of life, distress in epilepsy, depressive thoughts, and activity impairment after 6 months. Overall, the researchers noted that patients with focal onset seizures reported satisfaction with the treatment and had improved cognitive effects following seizures and seizure severity. These findings from the study were presented at the 2023 American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting, held December 1-5, in Orlando, Florida, by colead investigator Iryna Leunikava, MSc, and colleagues.²

Recently, Leunikava, a European evidence generation strategy lead for epilepsy and rare syndromes at UCB, sat down in an interview with NeurologyLive® to discuss how brivaracetam adjuvant therapy contributes to the substantial reduction in seizure activity, as observed in the observational study. She also talked about the implications the findings have on reshaping the approach to epilepsy treatment, especially in patients with focal onset seizures treated at earlier stages. In addition, Leunikava spoke about how the introduction of brivaracetam impacts not only seizure severity but also overall health status and quality of life.

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REFERENCES
1. Latimer D, Le D, Falgoust E, et al. Brivaracetam to Treat Partial Onset Seizures in Adults. Health Psychol Res. 2023;10(5):56782. Published 2023 Jan 28. doi:10.52965/001c.56782
2. UCB presents new data advancing patient-focused scientific leadership at American Epilepsy Society Annual Meeting. News Release. Published December 1, 2023. Accessed December 21, 2023. https://www.ucb-usa.com/stories-media/UCB-U-S-News/detail/article/ucb-presents-new-data-advancing-patient-focused-scientific-leadership-at-american-epilepsy-society-annual-meeting