William Rosenfeld, MD: Finding Ideal Combinations of Cenobamate and Concurrent ASMs

“We were able to lower the concomitant medications and maintain the efficacy of cenobamate, and that efficacy was quite good.”

Data from a post-hoc analysis of a phase 3 study suggest that reducing doses of concomitant antiseizure medications (ASMs) led to fewer patients with focal seizures discontinuing cenobamate (Xcopri; SK Life Science). These data were presented at the American Epilepsy Society (AES) Annual Meeting, December 4–8, 2020. The SK Life Science product was approved in late 2019 for the treatment of partial-onset seizures.

William Rosenfeld, MD, neurologist, Comprehensive Epilepsy Care Center for Children and Adults, in St. Louis, Missouri, and colleagues found that patients were more likely to continue using cenobamate when they decreased their mean concomitant ASM use as compared to patients that did not decrease mean concomitant ASM use. These decreases were mostly due to adverse events (AEs) that appeared early in the study during titration or early maintenance phases when cenobamate doses were escalated.

NeurologyLive spoke with Rosenfeld to learn more about cenobamate and how the early appearance of adverse events allowed for the team to analyze long-term data on the changing doses of concomitant ASMs. He stated that with further study, researchers will be able to further identify the most efficacious and AE-free combinations of ASMs.

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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.