ABSTRACT
Epilepsy is a chronic condition but one which manifests itself only intermittently. To achieve adequate control of seizures, drugs must be taken continuously and in the long term. Therefore, the development and testing of drugs for epilepsy poses problems peculiar to the condition. Existing antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are recognised to have effects on the central nervous system beyond seizure control. Awareness is growing, in particular, about effects on cognition and behavior. To achieve acceptance as a drug for chronic therapy, it is desirable for a new compound to have a sufficiently long elimination half-life (t12,el) such that once- or twice-daily dosing is all that is required; a half-life in the range of 15–30h is ideal. The chronic administration of AEDs capable of inducing liver enzymes may affect the new compound in one of two ways. Drugs with a high first-pass metabolism may have a reduced bioavailability.
