Do traditional anti-seizure drugs have a future? A review of potential anti-seizure drugs in clinical development.

Currently information is available for 20 potential anti-seizure drugs in clinical development. They include candidates with mechanisms of action similar to those of marketed AEDs (allopregnanolone, brivaracetam, ganaxolone, ICA-105665, NS1209, selurampanel); those with new mechanisms of action (beprodon, VX-765); compounds repurposed for the treatment of epilepsy (biperiden, bumetanide, fenfluramine, melatonin, nalutozan, pitolisant, quinidine, valnoctamide, verapamil); and finally candidates with currently unknown mechanisms of action (JNJ-26489112, UCB0942, YKP3089 (Cenobamate). Clinical development of anti-seizure drugs is still active but unexciting. Potential anti-seizure drugs continue to be largely identified by their activity against seizures provoked by electrical or chemical procedures in animals with normal brains. As in the past, this may lead to new drugs whose efficacy is not better than that of those already on the market.