Regulator bans epilepsy drug in women or girls of childbearing potential

23 April 2018

The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has changed the license for valproate-containing medicines.

Valproate was developed more than half a century ago by French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN), which gave it the brand name Depakine to treat epilepsy and Depakote or Depamide for bipolar disorders.

But the drug has recently been blamed for causing up to 4,100 children in France to be born with a severe congenital disorder after they were exposed to valproate in the womb.

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