Children living in Scotland with epilepsy will get NHS-funded treatment with UCB’s Vimpat following a green light from cost regulators.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium has accepted Vimpat (lacosamide) for NHS use as an adjunctive therapy for partial-onset (focal) seizures with or without secondary generalisation in children aged four years and older.
In Scotland there are around 55,000 people living with epilepsy but, despite its high prevalence, around 10-29 percent of children with the condition experience inadequate seizure control with currently available anti-epileptic drugs.
As such, the drug’s routine availability on the NHS in Scotland is “an important step forward for the management of paediatric epilepsy,” UCB noted.
The drug’s approval for younger patients in Europe in September last year was based on the principle of extrapolation of efficacy data in adults to children, supported by safety and pharmacokinetics data collected in a paediatric population, it was stressed.
“The acceptance of Vimpat for use in children aged four to 16 in NHS Scotland by the SMC is an important step forward for the management of paediatric epilepsy, a condition which can present significant challenges to children and their families,” said Jeff Wren, Executive Vice-President, Head of UCB’s Neurology Patient Value Unit.
“One of our key commitments at UCB is to improve the lives of people with epilepsy, and we are proud to be providing a proven treatment option for this highly impacted patient population.”
Vimpat was first launched in the EU in September 2008, as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of partial-onset seizures with or without secondary generalisation in adults and adolescents (16-18 years) with epilepsy.
