FDA approves Novartis' Trileptal oral solution

The US Food and Drug Administration has granted Novartis marketingclearance for its oral suspension formulation of the anticonvulsive Trileptal (oxcarbazepine), for the treatment of epilepsy. The drug was previously approved in tablet form two years ago (Marketletter October 4, 1999), but patients who are mentally impaired can have difficulty swallowing medication in this form. The new lemon-flavored liquid provides the same effective seizure control as the tablets but in an easy-to-swallow formulation.