The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) does not recommend the use of eslicarbazepine acetate (Zebinix®) within NHS Scotland for adjunctive therapy in adults with partial-onset seizures with or without secondary generalisation.

The efficacy of eslicarbazepine acetate in terms of the reduction in standardised seizure frequency was demonstrated in three 12-week placebo-controlled studies.  There are no clinical studies comparing eslicarbazepine acetate to other anti-epileptic drugs, and the company therefore undertook an indirect comparison to demonstrate its equivalent efficacy to lacosamide.

According to the drug advice (see link below), the manufacturer did not present a sufficiently robust economic analysis to gain acceptance by the SMC.  The licence holder has indicated their intention to resubmit.