Alkem Laboratories has launched NeuCeno (cenobamate) in India, bringing a widely studied anti-seizure medication to the country for the first time to treat partial-onset seizures in adults. The launch adds a new option to India’s epilepsy treatment landscape at a time when a significant share of patients continue to experience uncontrolled seizures despite already being on existing anti-seizure medications.
What Is Cenobamate and How Does It Work
NeuCeno is a once-daily oral therapy available in multiple strengths. Its active ingredient, cenobamate, works through a dual mechanism of action: it selectively inhibits the persistent sodium current responsible for driving repetitive neuronal firing, the electrical over-activity that produces seizures, while simultaneously enhancing the brain’s natural inhibitory signaling through positive modulation of GABA-A receptors. That combination, dampening excessive neural excitation while boosting the brain’s own calming mechanisms, is part of what has distinguished cenobamate from many earlier-generation anti-seizure medications in international clinical use.
Cenobamate isn’t new globally. It was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November 2019 and by the European Medicines Agency in 2021, and has since been studied extensively in drug-resistant epilepsy populations, patients who have already failed multiple prior treatment attempts. Alkem’s launch marks its first availability in the Indian market.
The drug belongs to a chemical class known as alkyl-carbamates, and its development traces back to earlier compounds in the same family, refined over years of research aimed at improving both efficacy and tolerability for patients with focal seizures. Real-world data collected since its international approval has continued to reinforce the findings from its original clinical trials, including studies examining its use in more complex patient populations, such as those with intellectual disabilities alongside drug-resistant epilepsy, where researchers have reported meaningful improvements in seizure control alongside a reduction in the overall number of medications patients needed to take.
India’s Epilepsy Burden
Epilepsy remains a substantial public health burden in India, with an estimated 9.4 million people living with the condition, according to Alkem. Despite the availability of multiple anti-seizure medications already on the market, a significant proportion of patients continue to experience uncontrolled seizures, a gap that Alkem says substantially affects patients’ independence, daily functioning, and overall quality of life.
That persistent gap in seizure control is a well-documented challenge in epilepsy care broadly, not unique to India. Roughly a third of people with epilepsy have what’s classified as drug-resistant epilepsy, seizures that fail to respond adequately even after trying two or more appropriately chosen anti-seizure medications, leaving both patients and treating physicians searching for better options.
The Clinical Evidence Behind Cenobamate
In randomized clinical studies of adults with uncontrolled focal seizures already on existing anti-seizure medications, adjunctive cenobamate produced up to a 78 percent reduction in seizure frequency, with up to 30 percent of patients achieving complete seizure freedom during the maintenance phase of treatment. That seizure-freedom rate is notable in the context of drug-resistant epilepsy specifically, where achieving a fully seizure-free state with an add-on medication has historically been uncommon; published clinical literature reviewing cenobamate’s international trial data has similarly found more than one in five patients with drug-resistant epilepsy achieving seizure freedom, a result researchers have described as remarkable relative to other anti-seizure medications studied to date.
Alkem’s Broader Epilepsy Portfolio
The NeuCeno launch extends a pattern of epilepsy-focused product launches from Alkem in recent years. The company introduced Brivasure (brivaracetam) in March 2021 for adjunctive management of partial-onset seizures, and later launched Perampil (perampanel) at accessible price points, positioning both as part of a broader strategy to widen the range of anti-seizure treatment options available to Indian patients and physicians. NeuCeno’s launch continues that expansion into a newer class of therapy aimed specifically at patients whose seizures remain uncontrolled on existing options.
“Cenobamate has the potential to transform treatment outcomes towards delivering better epilepsy management.”
— Sandeep Singh, Managing Director, Alkem Laboratories
What This Means for Patients in India
For patients whose epilepsy has proven difficult to control despite multiple prior medications, cenobamate’s arrival in India offers a treatment option with a substantial body of international clinical evidence behind it, something not previously available domestically. As an adjunctive therapy, it’s intended to be added to a patient’s existing anti-seizure regimen rather than used as a first-line standalone treatment, and like other anti-seizure medications, initiating or adjusting cenobamate requires close supervision from a treating neurologist, including gradual dose titration, a standard practice for this drug class internationally given the importance of monitoring for tolerability during the early treatment phase.
Alkem has not disclosed pricing for NeuCeno in India, and access will likely depend on insurance coverage and out-of-pocket affordability, factors that have shaped uptake for other advanced anti-seizure medications launched in the Indian market in recent years. Still, for a country with millions of people living with epilepsy and a meaningful share still struggling with uncontrolled seizures, the addition of a therapy with cenobamate’s clinical track record represents a genuine expansion of the treatment options available to neurologists managing the most difficult cases.
This article is for general informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice. Anyone considering a change to their epilepsy treatment should consult a qualified neurologist.