FDA Approves Liquid Form of Zonisamide
Zonisade is the first oral liquid form of zonisamide to be approved by the FDA to treat patients with epilepsy.
The FDA has approved Azurity Pharmaceuticals’ Zonisade (zonisamide), an oral suspension formulation to treat partial seizures in adults and pediatric patients aged 16 years and older with epilepsy.
James W. Wheless, M.D.
“The provider community continues to seek reliable formulations of medicines that may reduce the epilepsy patient and caregiver burden and help improve treatment adherence,” James W. Wheless, M.D., chair, Pediatric Neurology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, said in a press release. “Zonisade addresses an important unmet need in patients who have difficulty swallowing or who are unable or unwilling to take tablets.”
Zonisade was developed by Eton Pharmaceuticals, and was one of three drugs sold to Azurity in February 2021. The other two therapies include lamotrigine and topiramate. Topiramate was approved by the FDA in November 2021 with the brand name of Eprontia.
Related: FDA Approves Liquid Formulation of Seizure Medication
An estimated 65 million people have epilepsy globally, and 1 in 26 people will develop epilepsy in the United States. Zonisamide is available as a generic in a capsule form from several manufacturers.
In this episode of the "Meet the Board" podcast series, Briana Contreras, Managed Healthcare Executive editor, speaks with Ateev Mehrotra, a member of the MHE editorial advisory board and a professor of healthcare policy and medicine at Harvard Medical School. Mehtrotra is also a hospitalist at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. In the discussion, Contreras gets to know Mehrotra more on a personal level and picks his brain on some of his research interests including telehealth, alternative payment models and price transparency.
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