UK's NICE adds GlaxoSmithKline Trobalt as new NHS epilepsy option

UK pharma major GlaxoSmithKline’s Trobalt (retigabine) has been recommended for use in the UK’s National Health Service to help control seizures in adult epilepsy patients, by the drug watchdog the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). The drug should be prescribed as an add-on treatment option if other medicines have been ineffective or produced unmanageable side effects, the NICE said.

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder characterised by recurring seizures. It affects between 260,000 and 416,000 people in England and Wales, 55% of whom will experience partial onset seizures, which are caused by too much electrical activity in one part of the brain. When this excessive activity reaches the whole brain, it is called secondary generalisation.

Epilepsy patients often need combination of drugs to control seizures