4.1. Therapeutic indications

Brivaracetam is indicated as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of partial onset seizures with or without secondary generalisation in adults, adolescents and children from 2 years of age with epilepsy.

4.2. Posology and method of administration

Posology

The physician should prescribe the most appropriate formulation and strength according to weight and dose.

The recommended posology for adults, adolescents and children from 2 years of age is summarised in the following table. The dose should be administered in two equally divided doses, approximately 12 hours apart.

* Based on individual patient response, the dose may be adjusted within this effective dose range.

** Based on physician's assessment of need for seizure control

Adults

The recommended starting dose is either 50 mg/day or 100 mg/day based on physician's assessment of required seizure reduction versus potential side effects. Based on individual patient response and tolerability, the dose may be adjusted in the effective dose range of 50 mg/day to 200 mg/day.

Adolescents and children weighing 50 kg or more

The recommended starting dose is 50 mg/day. Brivaracetam may also be initiated at 100 mg/day based on physician's assessment of need for seizure control. The recommended maintenance dose is 100 mg/day. Based on individual patient response, the dose may be adjusted in the effective dose range of 50 mg/day to 200 mg/day.

Adolescents and children weighing from 20 kg to less than 50 kg

The recommended starting dose is 1 mg/kg/day. Brivaracetam may also be initiated at doses up to 2 mg/kg/day based on physician's assessment of need for seizure control. The recommended maintenance dose is 2 mg/kg/day. Based on individual patient response, the dose may be adjusted in the effective dose range of 1 mg/kg/day to 4 mg/kg/day.

Children weighing from 10 kg to less than 20 kg

The recommended starting dose is 1 mg/kg/day. Brivaracetam may also be initiated at doses up to 2.5 mg/kg/day based on physician's assessment of need for seizure control. The recommended maintenance dose is 2.5 mg/kg/day. Based on individual patient response, the dose may be adjusted in the effective dose range of 1 mg/kg/day to 5 mg/kg/day.

Missed doses

If patients missed one dose or more, it is recommended that they take a single dose as soon as they remember and take the following dose at the usual morning or evening time. This may avoid the brivaracetam plasma concentration falling below the efficacy level and prevent breakthrough seizures from occurring.

Discontinuation

For patients from 16 years of age, if brivaracetam has to be discontinued, it is recommended that the dose is reduced gradually by 50 mg/day on a weekly basis.

For patients below the age of 16 years, if brivaracetam has to be discontinued, it is recommended that the dose is reduced by a maximum of half the dose every week until a dose of 1 mg/kg/day (for patients with a body weight less than 50 kg) or 50 mg/day (for patients with body weight of 50 kg or more) is reached.

After 1 week of treatment at 50 mg/day, a final week of treatment at the dose of 20 mg/day is recommended.

Special populations

Elderly (65 years of age and above)

No dose adjustment is needed in elderly patients (see section 5.2).

The clinical experience in patients ≥ 65 years is limited.

Renal impairment

No dose adjustment is needed in patients with impaired renal function (see section 5.2). Brivaracetam is not recommended in end-stage renal disease patients undergoing dialysis due to lack of data.

Based on data in adults, no dose adjustment is necessary in paediatric patients with impaired renal function. No clinical data are available in paediatric patients with renal impairment.

Hepatic impairment

Exposure to brivaracetam was increased in adult patients with chronic liver disease.

In patients with hepatic impairment, the following adjusted doses, administered in 2 divided doses, approximately 12 hours apart, are recommended for all stages of hepatic impairment (see sections 4.4 and 5.2). No clinical data are available in paediatric patients with hepatic impairment.

Paediatric patients less than 2 years of age

The efficacy of brivaracetam in paediatric patients aged less than 2 years has not yet been established.

Currently available data are described in section 4.8, 5.1, and 5.2 but no recommendation on a posology can be made.

Method of administration

Brivaracetam STADA film-coated tablets must be taken orally and swallowed with liquid and may be taken with or without food (see section 5.2). Patients not being able to swallow tablets or patients for whom the dose can not be met with the use of tablets should use other brivaracetam containing medicinal products available on the market.

4.3. Contraindications

Hypersensitivity to the active substance or other pyrrolidone derivatives or to any of the excipients listed in section 6.1.

4.5. Interaction with other medicinal products and other forms of interaction

Formal interaction studies have only been performed in adults.

Pharmacodynamic interactions

Concomitant treatment with levetiracetam

In the clinical studies, although the numbers were limited, there was no observed benefit of brivaracetam versus placebo in patients taking levetiracetam concurrently. No additional safety or tolerability concern was observed (see section 5.1).

Interaction with alcohol

In a pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interaction study between brivaracetam 200 mg single dose and ethanol 0.6 g/L continuous infusion in healthy subjects, there was no pharmacokinetic interaction, but brivaracetam approximately doubled the effect of alcohol on psychomotor function, attention and memory. Intake of brivaracetam with alcohol is not recommended.

Pharmacokinetic interactions

Effects of other medicinal products on the pharmacokinetics of brivaracetam

In vitro data suggest that brivaracetam has a low interaction potential. The main disposition pathway of brivaracetam is by CYP-independent hydrolysis. A second disposition pathway involves hydroxylation mediated by CYP2C19 (see section 5.2).

Brivaracetam plasma concentrations may increase when coadministered with CYP2C19 strong inhibitors (e.g. fluconazole, fluvoxamine), but the risk of a clinically relevant CYP2C19‑mediated interaction is considered to be low. Limited clinical data are available implying that coadministration of cannabidiol may increase the plasma exposure of brivaracetam, possibly through CYP2C19 inhibition, but the clinical relevance is uncertain.

Rifampicin

In healthy subjects, coadministration with the strong enzyme inducer rifampicin (600 mg/day for 5 days), decreased brivaracetam area under the plasma concentration curve (AUC) by 45 %. Prescribers should consider adjusting the brivaracetam dose in patients starting or ending treatment with rifampicin.

Strong enzyme inducing AEDs

Brivaracetam plasma concentrations are decreased when coadministered with strong enzyme inducing AEDs (carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin) but no dose adjustment is required (see table 1).

Other enzyme inducers

Other strong enzyme inducers (such as St John´s wort (Hypericum perforatum)) may also decrease the systemic exposure of brivaracetam. Therefore, starting or ending treatment with St John's wort should be done with caution.

Effects of brivaracetam on other medicinal products

Brivaracetam given 50 or 150 mg/day did not affect the AUC of midazolam (metabolised by CYP3A4). The risk of clinically relevant CYP3A4 interactions is considered to be low.

In vitro studies have shown that brivaracetam exhibits little or no inhibition of CYP450 isoforms except for CYP2C19. Brivaracetam may increase plasma concentrations of medicinal products metabolised by CYP2C19 (e.g. lanzoprazole, omeprazole, diazepam). When tested in vitro brivaracetam did not induce CYP1A1/2 but induced CYP3A4 and CYP2B6. No CYP3A4 induction was found in vivo (see midazolam above). CYP2B6 induction has not been investigated in vivo and brivaracetam may decrease plasma concentrations of medicinal products metabolised by CYP2B6 (e.g. efavirenz). In vitro interaction studies to determine the potential inhibitory effects on transporters concluded that there were no clinically relevant effects, except for OAT3. In vitro, Brivaracetam inhibits OAT3 with a half maximal inhibitory concentration 42-fold higher than the C_max at the highest clinical dose. Brivaracetam 200mg/day may increase plasma concentrations of medicinal products transported by OAT3.

Antiepileptic drugs

Potential interactions between brivaracetam (50 mg/day to 200 mg/day) and other AEDs were investigated in a pooled analysis of plasma drug concentrations from all phase 2-3 studies, in a population pharmacokinetic analysis of placebo-controlled phase 2-3 clinical studies, and in dedicated drug-drug interaction studies (for the following AEDs: carbamazepine, lamotrigine, phenytoin and topiramate). The effect of the interactions on the plasma concentration is summarised in table 1 (increase is indicated as “↑” and decrease as “↓”, area under the plasma concentration versus time curve as “AUC”, maximum observed concentration as C_max).

Table 1: Pharmacokinetic interactions between brivaracetam and other AEDs

^a based on a study involving the administration of a supratherapeutic dose of 400 mg/day brivaracetam.

Carbamazepine

Brivaracetam is a moderate reversible inhibitor of epoxide hydrolase resulting in an increased concentration of carbamazepine epoxide, an active metabolite of carbamazepine. In controlled clinical studies, the carbamazepine epoxide plasma concentration increased by a mean of 37 %, 62 % and 98 % with little variability at brivaracetam doses of 50 mg/day, 100 mg/day and 200 mg/day respectively. No safety risks were observed. There was no additive effect of brivaracetam and valproate on the AUC of carbamazepine epoxide.

Oral contraceptives

Co-administration of brivaracetam (100 mg/day) with an oral contraceptive containing ethinylestradiol (0.03 mg) and levonorgestrel (0.15 mg) did not influence the pharmacokinetics of either substance. When brivaracetam was coadministered at a dose of 400 mg/day (twice the recommended maximum daily dose) with an oral contraceptive containing ethinylestradiol (0.03 mg) and levonorgestrel (0.15 mg), a reduction in oestrogen and progestin AUCs of 27 % and 23 %, respectively, was observed without impact on suppression of ovulation. There was generally no change in the concentration-time profiles of the endogenous markers estradiol, progesterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG).

4.6. Fertility, pregnancy and lactation

Women of childbearing potential

Physicians should discuss family planning and contraception with women of childbearing potential taking brivaracetam (see Pregnancy).

If a woman decides to become pregnant, the use of brivaracetam should be carefully re-evaluated.

Pregnancy

Risk related to epilepsy and antiepileptic medicinal products in general

For all anti-epileptic drugs, it has been shown that in the offspring of treated women with epilepsy, the prevalence of malformations is two to three times greater than the rate of approximately 3 % in the general population. In the treated population, an increase in malformations has been noted with polytherapy; however, the extent to which the treatment and/or the underlying condition is responsible has not been elucidated. Discontinuation of anti-epileptic treatments may result in exacerbation of the disease which could be harmful to the mother and the foetus.

Risk related to brivaracetam

There is a limited amount of data from the use of brivaracetam in pregnant women. There is no data on placental transfer in humans, but brivaracetam was shown to readily cross the placenta in rats (see section 5.3). The potential risk for humans is unknown. Animal studies did not detect any teratogenic potential of brivaracetam (see section 5.3).

In clinical studies, brivaracetam was used as adjunctive therapy and when it was used with carbamazepine, it induced a dose-related increase in the concentration of the active metabolite, carbamazepine-epoxide (see section 4.5). There is insufficient data to determine the clinical significance of this effect in pregnancy.

As a precautionary measure, brivaracetam should not be used during pregnancy unless clinically necessary i.e. (if the benefit to the mother clearly outweighs the potential risk to the foetus).

Breast-feeding

Brivaracetam is excreted in human breast milk. A decision should be made whether to discontinue breastfeeding or to discontinue brivaracetam, taking into account the benefit of the medicinal product to the mother. In case of co-administration of brivaracetam and carbamazepine, the amount of carbamazepine-epoxide excreted in breast milk could increase. There is insufficient data to determine the clinical significance.

Fertility

No human data on the effect of brivaracetam on fertility are available. In rats, there was no effect on fertility with brivaracetam (see section 5.3).

4.7. Effects on ability to drive and use machines

Brivaracetam has minor or moderate influence on the ability to drive and use machines.

Due to possible differences in individual sensitivity some patients might experience somnolence, dizziness, and other central nervous system (CNS) related symptoms. Patients should be advised not to drive a car or to operate other potentially hazardous machines until they are familiar with the effects of brivaracetam on their ability to perform such activities.

4.9. Overdose

Symptoms

There is limited clinical experience with brivaracetam overdose in humans. Somnolence and dizziness have been reported in a healthy subject taking a single dose of 1,400 mg of brivaracetam.

The following adverse reactions were reported with brivaracetam overdose: nausea, vertigo, balance disorder, anxiety, fatigue, irritability, aggression, insomnia, depression, and suicidal ideation in the post-marketing experience. In general, the adverse reactions associated with brivaracetam overdose were consistent with the known adverse reactions.

Management of overdose

There is no specific antidote for overdose with brivaracetam. Treatment of an overdose should include general supportive measures. Since less than 10 % of brivaracetam is excreted in urine, haemodialysis is not expected to significantly enhance brivaracetam clearance (see section 5.2).