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The Search for New Anticonvulsants

  • Chapter
Antiepileptic Drugs

Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 138))

Abstract

Any review of the rational search for new anticonvulsants runs the danger of neglecting the informality that may lie at the heart of drug discovery — the flashes of insight, inspiration, fruitful discussion and, last but not least, serendipity. While recognizing the possibility of the accidental discovery of new drugs, the aim of this chapter is to compare critically the pharmacological strategies which are currently used in antiepileptic drug development. In particular, the modern rational approach to the development of new drugs, which is based on knowledge of the basic events involved in epilepsy, will be compared with the more traditional approaches of random screening and devising structural variants of known antiepileptic drugs.

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  1. D. Schmidt
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Medicine, Royal Brisbane Hospital, University of Queensland, Clinical Sciences Building, Herston, Qld., 4029, Australia

    Mervyn J. Eadie AO, MD, PhD

  2. Australian Centre for Clinical Neuropharmacology, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy, Victoria, 3065, Australia

    Frank J. E. Vajda M.D.

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Schmidt, D. (1999). The Search for New Anticonvulsants. In: Eadie, M.J., Vajda, F.J.E. (eds) Antiepileptic Drugs. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 138. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60072-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60072-2_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-64244-9

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