Fycompa, a Drug for Epilepsy, approved by FDA

Fycompa (Perampanel) has received the FDA's approval for treatment of partial onset seizures among epilepsy patients who are 12 and older.

Fycompa is the first of a new class of epilepsy drugs and it now is available to around 2 million Americans that have epilepsy, according to WebMD. According to the CDC, more than one-third of people with epilepsy still experience seizures regardless of current treatments that are available. According to businessWeek, Eisai, the makers of Fycompa, said that patients who took part in three clinical trials of the drug showed improvement in seizure control. Eisai said that results from a clinical trial released back in April 2011, showed that some of the drug's side effects were falls, headaches, dizziness, irritability and tiredness. According to Health Aim, Eisai is looking for medicines that can replace the drug Aricept, which has been going down in sales. The company said that the drug is the best selling drug for Alzheimer's but two years ago its protection by patent expired. Eisai's CEO and president, Haruo Naito, said that their franchise for epilepsy will greatly increase thanks to the FDA's approval. Naito also said that he hopes that the company will become one of the top three companies in the world in the field.