The National Institutes of Health Anticonvulsant Drug Development Program: screening for efficacy.

The procedures employed by the ASP provide detailed information pertaining to the anticonvulsant profile of new candidate substances. In addition, the results obtained from tolerance and liver microsomal studies furnish critical information for predicting whether tolerance and/or serious drug-drug interactions are likely to develop following long-term administration of a candidate substance. Finally, in vitro mechanism-of-action studies supply preliminary information regarding the site of action of promising new anticonvulsant drugs. It is anticipated that the testing protocol outlined above will identify safer and mechanistically novel substances to enhance significantly the quality of life of those epilepsy patients still suffering from uncontrolled seizure disorders and/or experiencing significant adverse drug effects.