Antiepileptic drug development program.

The Epilepsy Branch of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke has responded to the need for new, more effective, and less toxic antiepileptic drugs by cooperating with pharmaceutical companies in key areas of development. The ADD Program screens large numbers of compounds for anticonvulsant activity in appropriate animal models and sponsors clinical trials of promising new drugs for the treatment of epilepsy. The use of investigative techniques developed since the late 1960s allows documentation of seizure type and seizure frequency for maximal objectivity of clinical trial data.