According to the World Health Organization (WHO), epilepsy affects roughly 50 million people globally, making it one of the most common neurological disorders. Because the disease is more common in children than in adults, general practitioners are more likely to see patients with epilepsy on a daily basis.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 460,000 children in the United States were diagnosed with epilepsy in 2010. Blood tests such as complete blood counts, computed tomography scanning (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and electroencephalograms (EEG) are used to diagnose epilepsy, depending on the symptoms.
Correct diagnosis has practical implications, such as determining the best treatment option and appreciating the eventual prognosis. The age, type of epileptic condition, and aetiology of epilepsy all influence the treatment of children with epilepsy. Anti-epileptic medicines are used to treat the majority of children who develop epilepsy (AEDs).
Phenobarbitone, the first medication to treat paediatric epilepsy, was created in 1912. There are currently around 26 AEDs on the market to treat various epileptic syndromes. AED can totally control seizures in roughly 70% of cases of paediatric epilepsy.
Treatment with a ketogenic diet, which consists of a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, is often suggested for children who have failed to react to other treatments. In extreme cases, however, hemispherectomy, a surgical operation in which all of the brain’s hemispheres are removed, is the preferred treatment.
The key factor driving the growth of the paediatric epilepsy therapeutics market over the predicted period is the continued rise in various neurological illnesses among children. In addition, increasing efforts to produce AEDs with novel mechanisms of action are predicted to change therapy patterns.
Biscayne Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology firm established in the United States, is focusing on employing its flagship chemical BIS-001, which has a new mode of action, to treat refractory forms of focal epilepsy. BIS-001 has also been shown to reduce seizures completely in children with catastrophic epilepsy, often known as dravet syndrome.
However, the global paediatric epilepsy therapeutics market is likely to be hampered by a lack of understanding about diseases in developing countries, as well as a lack of medical facilities in poor and emerging countries, as well as a reluctance to accept epileptic treatments. Furthermore, with the majority of pharmacological molecules approved in the paediatric epileptic therapeutics category, the current epilepsy therapeutics pipeline is inadequate, resulting in revenue stagnation in the next years.
By 2023, the paediatric epilepsy treatments market would have grown at a CAGR of about 6%.
Biomarkers are starting to acquire momentum in the market. Emerging biomarkers for epileptogenesis are becoming more common in the area of epilepsy diagnoses. Epilepsy is a condition characterised by recurrent seizures; thus, these biomarkers for epileptogenesis are employed to determine the seizures’ spontaneity.
Demand for second- and third-generation AEDs is increasing.
The number of second-generation AEDs, such as felbamate and lamotrigine, is increasing in the worldwide paediatric epilepsy treatments market, owing to their low interaction and susceptibility for cognitive adverse effects.
Negative negative effects and a rise in societal stigma
Many licenced medications are available on the global paediatric epilepsy treatments market, however they are all linked with serious side effects.
Competitive Environment
This market appears to be fragmented due to the large number of enterprises present. Some of the most well-known paediatric epilepsy drug companies are developing partnerships with organisations and vendors to create therapies that use a unique mechanism to help them enter the market more smoothly.
Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), nutrition therapy, and surgery are all used to treat epilepsy. After two unprovoked epileptic seizures, anticonvulsant medication is frequently recommended in adults. Because most patients may be successfully treated with just one antiepileptic medicine, there is widespread agreement that treatment should begin with the first antiepileptic drug of choice. The use of AEDs, which is the first line of treatment for almost all patients with multiple seizures, dominates current epilepsy treatment. Sodium channel inhibitors, calcium channel inhibitors, GABA A receptor agonists, synaptic vesicle protein SV2A modulators, Na/Ca channel modulators, and AMPA receptor blockers are among the numerous types of AEDs.
