Advice
Following a full submission
levetiracetam (Keppra®) is not recommended for use within NHS Scotland as monotherapy in the treatment of partial onset seizures with or without secondary generalisation in patients from 16 years of age with newly diagnosed epilepsy.
Levetiracetam has been shown to be non-inferior to carbamazepine controlled-release, the first choice anti-epileptic drug for partial seizures.
However, the manufacturer’s justification of the treatment’s cost in relation to its health benefits was not sufficient to gain acceptance by SMC and they did not present a sufficiently robust economic analysis.
The licence holder has indicated their decision to resubmit.
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Medicine details
- Medicine name:
- levetiracetam 250, 500, 750 and 1000mg tablets and levetiracetam oral solution 100mg/ml (Keppra)
- SMC ID:
- 397/07
- Indication:
- as monotherapy in the treatment of partial onset seizures with or without secondary generalisation in patients from 16 years of age with newly diagnosed epilepsy
- Pharmaceutical company
- UCB Pharma Ltd
- BNF chapter
- Central nervous system
- Submission type
- Full
- Status
- Not recommended
- Date advice published
- 10 September 2007