Keppra, a 'new class' of CNS drugs

The binding site for Keppra (levetiracetam) has been isolated in the brain, specifically as a synaptic vesicle protein SV2A. This protein appears to play an important role in the release of neurotransmitters essential for the neuronal activity in the brain and spinal cord.

The identification of SV2A as the binding site for Keppra provides an innovative and unique drug discovery platform to identify new drugs with improved characteristics and provides molecular evidence that Keppra is different form all other anti-epileptic and CNS drugs. No other known anti-epileptic drugs (AED's) bind to SV2A.

Ley Sander, professor of neurology and clinical epilepsy at University College London​ said: "By showing that Keppra works in a different way from other treatments, this important discovery may help to explain why Keppra can significantly improve rates of seizure freedom when added to first line therapy."​

"It may also help to explain why, unlike some other AEDs, Keppra does not interact with other drugs, offering significant benefits in treating patients with other serious conditions, as can often be the case with elderly patients."​

While the study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences did not determine the precise role of the SV2A protein, animal studies have shown Keppra display a high correlation between the binding affinity to SV2A and their anti-epileptic activity.

With 300,000 people in the UK suffering from epilepsy (40 million people worldwide), Keppra is currently the most commonly used add-on therapy in UK epilepsy clinics, and is also the most commonly switched-to epilepsy drug in the UK.

SV2A, the binding site for levetiracetam, also provides a novel target for future drug discovery at UCB Pharma. The company has filed two patent applications related to the discovery and has two drug candidates in clinical development for several CNS diseases.